County seeks to lease fire equipment

Published 11:06 pm Wednesday, May 10, 2006

The Whitfield County Board of Commissioners said Wednesday it has asked county administrator Jim Davis to research the possible acquisition of new equipment for the fire department through lease-purchase programs.

Specifically, commissioners are looking at acquiring a new truck to replace one that was burned last year and possibly one more. Trucks can cost more than $100,000 depending on the model.

“This will be less painful for us than trying to come up with the full price for a truck,” said commissioner Leo Whaley, the board’s liaison to the fire department.

The board has also asked Davis to look at the number and types of calls each of the county’s 10 fire stations handle and to compare the stations to each other and to those in counties similar in size to Whitfield. The goal is to determine what the appropriate staffing levels at each station should be.

Commissioners also asked Davis to look into homeland security grants that might help the county increase the number of firefighters it employs. The county currently has approximately 45 full-time firefighters and about 80 volunteers and a payroll of just under $2 million.