Meridian fire gets new brush truck

Meridian Fire Department added a new brush truck to its fleet on Monday.

Fire chief Sal Joy brought the new Ford F350 from Alpha One in Duncan, who built the truck for the department.

“It was the first one built from the ground up and has a warranty on it,” Joy said.

Previous trucks purchased by the department had some new parts, but included parts from other trucks.

Known as Brush 19, it will replace the current Brush 19, a 2005 Dodge Ram that had become unreliable.

“We were always working on it,” Joy said. “I didn’t want the firefighters to go out in it and get stuck in the middle of a fire.”

The truck cost $140,000 and was purchased through Stephens County Rural Fire Funds. It was ordered in December and took approximately three months to deliver. Joy intentionally did not add much to the basic package, trying to keep the costs down by not including things he didn’t think were needed.

“We just got what we thought was needed to serve the community,” Joy said. 

The 2025 truck does have some upgrades such as additional storage. It has a 1.5-inch hose and holds 300 gallons. New dials on the bed of the truck will allow firefighters to easily see how much water is left and includes additonal lighting for safety. It will also allow drivers to have control over the equipment through the center console. 

It will make the fourth brush truck in service for the department.

“We only had three, so when we had a call we would have people show up and not have anything for them to go out in,” Joy said. 

With 65 mph winds expected on Friday, the chief said the truck arrived just in time.

Joy hopes that it will eventually help lower Meridian’s ISO rating.

The “y” part of the ISO has to do with hydrants. Meridian has 39 hydrants and the department has tested them all.

“We dropped from 6.8 to 5.5y,” Joy said. “We are looking to get it down to 4.4y, which will lower insurance rates in the communty.”