The Brundidge Volunteer Fire Department has purchased a 3,000-gallon pumper fire truck with funds provided through a 95-5 percent matching Assistance to Firefighters (AFG) FEMA grant.

The total cost of the truck was $246,890 with the Brundidge VFD picking up 5 percent of the cost.

“The funds that we used for our match came from our share of the tobacco tax,” said Glen Adkins, Brundidge fire chief. “We are real appreciative of the AFG grant and also of the tobacco tax money that makes is possible for us to have match money for grants and for other needs of our department.”

The pumper fire truck arrived Saturday and Brundidge volunteer firefighters were on hand to inspect the new addition to their fire fighting equipment and to learn about its operation.

Adkins said that new pumper truck has a pumping capacity that exceeds the capacity of the VFD’s two 1,000-capacity pumpers.

“This new truck will be especially beneficial when fighting fires out in the country,” Adkins said. “This truck can pump 1,000 gallons a minute when all pumps are connected so that means that we can get a lot of water on a fire in a few minutes.”

The Brundidge VFD now has three Class A pumper trucks, an equipment truck and to brush trucks that are used primarily for fighting brush fires.

Adkins said his department responded to between 100 and 130 house and brush fires and mutual aide calls in 2013.

The Brundidge volunteer firefighters are Adkins, Duck Sneed, Charles Tuttle, Jeremy Barbaree, Dwight Wheeler, Danny Sanders, Moses Davenport, Jerry Reynolds, Joe Norman, Andrew Hall and Joe Sunntag.

The primary goal of the Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) is to meet the firefighting and emergency response needs of fire departments and nonaffiliated emergency medical service organizations. Since 2001, AFG has helped firefighters and other first responders to obtain critically needed equipment, protective gear, emergency vehicles, training and other resources needed to protect the public and emergency personnel from fire and related hazards.