News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
The Algood City Council approved a bid for new extrication equipment for the fire department during Tuesday’s meeting.
Fire Chief David Judd said the new gear is necessary as the department has run more calls in 2024 than ever before. Judd said twelve members of the department already have some level of extrication training needed to use the gear.
“Now that we have personnel at the station, their responsibilities on these calls have kind of shifted,” Judd said. “Where now we are getting to the scenes faster. We have somebody at the station, we are getting to these wrecks faster, we can provide more assistance, more help.”
Judd said the tools will be battery-powered so they can also be brought to calls like structure collapses where extra mobility is required. Judd said they will be getting a cutter, a spreader, and a telescopic ram.
“I think this is a need,” Judd said. “This is something that we can provide to the citizens of Algood and the visitors that come to town. We have a lot of traffic on (Highway) 111, a lot of traffic in town, and if we can get there just a minute sooner and get somebody out of a bad situation, then we’ve more than accomplished our goals.”
Judd said he earmarked funds for the purchase when working on the department’s plans for capital outlay. He said the addition helps expand the department’s ability to help. Judd said he previously got a set of extrication equipment donated to the department but it is forty to fifty years old and requires a hydraulic pump to operate.
“We are tethered to it,” Judd said. “We’ve only got so long that we can go. So with this battery powered equipment we can carry it five miles and still use it.”
Judd said the purchase would allow for easier collaboration with Putnam County and Cookeville as both entities use the same brand of extrication equipment as the bid. The council approved a bid for some $42,000, the only one out of three that properly fulfilled the bid requirements.
In other business, the council approved the second and final reading of an ordinance to increase the city’s sewer and water rates at the start of 2025.
