Grand Entrance

A new (used) fire engine and ambulance roll into town for the Oneida KY Fire Department.

The fire department's annual budget is $8,000 and their fleet consisted of a 1979 Ford pumper and a beat-up Chevy pick-up truck with a wood box in the bed that acted as their rescue. The engine has a front bumper mounted pump and a 750 gallon tank that lost 200+ gallons by the time they got to the fire.

The fire engine gift arrived as a result of a team effort from the Newstead NY Volunteer Fire Company, First Baptist Church of Vandalia (Dayton) Ohio coordinated by Hancock Hope. The ambulance was donated by a rescue squad in Mississippi.

The fire department had NO IDEA the equipment was coming for them. The church group "snuck" the apparatus into town and lettered it there with "Oneida Fire Department" before delivering it on Saturday-October 11th.

Needless to say, there were a few tears of joy shed that day.

Special thanks to Newstead's Past Chiefs Scott Zitzka, Mike Logle and Firefighter Mike Mutter for letting me tag along on the delivery.

This was brotherhood at its finest. I'm extremely proud of all of these folks.

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Comment by James on October 21, 2008 at 10:39pm: Congratulations! From Shelby County Kentucky. Its good to see a department in our state get what they need to operate.

Comment by Dave, NB 9 on October 18, 2008 at 8:14pm: Great job my friend, and also to all involved.

Comment by Jennica Stout on October 18, 2008 at 11:29am: That's a great story, I can't even imagine a budget that size! There was a story in JEMS this month about a couple who just put a fourth mortgage on their house to keep a rural ambulance operating, sad, and my department had made several donations of apparatus, turnout gear and EMS equipment. Some of which could have went to Oneida, as we are very close to Vandalia:-)

Comment by Ray Edwards on October 18, 2008 at 10:42am: Congrats on your gifts.We donated one of our trucks to the Fire Academy to use for training new firefighters.This meant alot to them and us.Good luck on your future.

Comment by lutan1 on October 18, 2008 at 1:07am: How cool!! Good to see something positive like this...

Comment by Becki Turner on October 17, 2008 at 11:16pm: Sorry bout that, not a "lot" of rude comments, mainly just the one...Anyway, Congratulations again. Being a member of another "financially challenged" department, I know what a moral boost new equipment can be! AWESOME!!!

Comment by Becki Turner on October 17, 2008 at 11:10pm: OK, there seems to be a lot of RUDE comments going on here, which shocks me! I had some classes with some folks from Oneida last October, a year ago. It was the written review for the IFSAC written exams, and it lasted 4 weeks twice a week. They were all great friendly people, and I can't think of anyone else more deserving. We all deserve a hand up now and then, and I'm glad that Oneida got it!!! You go guys!!! Congrats!

Comment by Jim Brunelle Jr. on October 17, 2008 at 8:32pm: That was an awesome story Tiger.See you next week.

Comment by Damon Dyer on October 17, 2008 at 6:57pm: What is going on here i thought this was a feel good story .

Comment by Christian on October 17, 2008 at 4:26pm: Great story Tiger, but don't you work with a bunch of politicians over there at county? Just wondering about the always being with honest people?