Cookeville FD Puts New Rescue Squad Truck Into Rotation

Cookeville Fire Department has officially put its new rescue squad truck into rotation.

Fire Chief Benton Young said they had purchased the truck during last budget year. He said with the delays in the automobile industry, it has taken about a year to receive the truck and get it outfitted with lights and equipment.

“The second one will allow us to give better coverage,” Young said. “And with that better coverage, that will give us quicker response time. Having a quicker response time will allow us to get to patients sooner than if we had just the one.”

Young said with about 60 percent of the department’s calls dealing with medical responses, this will be a huge benefit to the department. Additionally, he said it will help take away the wear and tear of the larger apparatuses responding to medical calls.

“Typically if we send an engine or a ladder truck, they’re $1 million plus machinery and the wear and tear, and the diesel costs on those,” Young said, “We’ll be saving a lot of money on that side of it too.”

Young said the truck began responding to calls last week and has already made a positive impact.

“None of this would be possible without support from our Mayor, City Council, and City Manager,” Young said. “We would like to thank our Mayor Laurin Wheaton, Vice Mayor Luke Eldridge, Councilmen Ali Bagci, Eric Walker, and Chad Gilbert. We would also like to thank our City Manager James Mills and our Finance Director Brenda Imel for recognizing our needs and helping us acquire the equipment to provide these services.”