Texas fire dept. converts military truck into emergency vehicle

By FireRescue1 Staff

WHITE OAK, Texas — A fire department converted a donated military truck into an emergency vehicle.

Longview News-Journal reported that the Texas A&M Forest Service program donated the 1997 four-wheel drive diesel military truck to the White Oak Volunteer Fire Department after receiving it from the Department of Defense.

The truck was then transformed into an emergency vehicle by the department with a new paint job, a back step and a top rack for a fire hose. It also has a 500-gallon skid unit.

“The skid unit was $20,000,” Chief Billy McBride said. “We paid for that ourselves, and then (got reimbursed) through a grant. We (paid) a little over $6,000 for things that we wanted on it, and we’re probably going to spend a little bit more. On the back, we’re going to put some LED lights, where when the firefighters are working on a grass fire at night, it’ll be lit up.”

Chief McBride said the truck will be used for emergency situations such as flooding.