Another Lincoln County volunteer fire department will benefitfrom a state grant program enabling rural departments to purchasenew fire trucks, state and local officials said.

The Bogue Chitto Volunteer Fire Department is among 59 city andcounty departments that were recently awarded $50,000 grants underthe Rural Fire Truck Acquisition Assistance Program. This year sawa record number of grants awarded, said Insurance CommissionerGeorge Dale.

Clifford Galey, president of the Lincoln County VolunteerFirefighters Association, said truck specifications are ready anddepartment officials are awaiting final paper work on grantfunds.

“Everything is ready to go to the board of supervisors toadvertise for the truck,” Galey said.

Galey said Bogue Chitto’s truck should be similar to onepurchased last year by the Loyd Star Volunteer Fire Department. Thetruck is a Class A pumper with a 1,000-gallon-per-minutecapacity.

Including necessary equipment, Galey estimated total cost of thetruck to be around $140,000.

Galey said it normally takes 180-200 days for a truck to arrive.However, Bogue Chitto’s truck should not take as long because it isan automatic transmission whereas Loyd Star’s has a manualtransmission, Galey said.

“We’re really hoping to have it by the first of the year, but itdepends on how soon we can let the bids,” Galey said.

Dale credited the five-year-old RFTAAP program’s success as areason for the state legislature’s continued funding support.

“Without this support, virtually none of these new truck wouldever be purchased,” Dale said in announcing the grants.

In the program’s history, Dale said $11.7 million has beendistributed to assist in the purchase of 230 new trucks fordepartments serving primarily rural areas. By year’s end, Dale saidone in two Mississippians will receive protection from a firedepartment that purchased at least one truck using RFTAAPfunds.

The Bogue Chitto Volunteer Fire Department will be the fourthLincoln County department to purchase a truck using state grantfunds, Galey said. Others include Zetus, Ruth and Loyd Star.

Galey also praised lawmakers for their support of the fire truckgrant program.

“Our local representatives and senators really fought to help usget it,” said Galey, urging citizens to ask lawmakers to continuesupporting the program.

While $50,000 does not cover the total costs of a new truck,Galey said the grant goes a long way toward lowering loan notes tosomething a volunteer department can afford. A truck loan can onlybe made for 10 years and departments must pay the notes withfund-raisers or other locally-generated funds.

Dale said new trucks purchased with RFTAAP funds and other fireprotection improvement efforts have contributed to increased fireprotection and lower insurance costs via upgraded fireclassification ratings. In addition to fire protection ratings,individual fire insurance rates are determined by specific propertyconstruction, occupancy, private protection and exposure fromadjacent buildings.

“The insurance savings created by the state’s $11.7 millionpublic investment easily results in a savings of $12-$15 millionevery year for our citizens in homeowners’ premium costs, notcounting the lives and property actually saved by these improvedservices,” Dale said.