Benton Fire District No. 4 recently placed two new fire apparatus into service to replace two others whose work status has changed, the Bossier Parish Police Jury said in a Facebook post.
Benton’s Fire Chief J.T. Wallace says the rigs are aptly named Swan Lake and Cypress instead of engine numbers for the station where they will work. He said they named the trucks with the community in mind, and the community would easily recognize the trucks.
Wallace said the trucks were purchased with the two-mill tax increase voters approved in 2021, which was dedicated to fund new equipment. Wallace believes the engines will meet the needs of the dual status of the fastest-growing area of Bossier Parish. “You have to rotate fire trucks after 20 years. They need to go into reserve status. And the trucks that we have in service today, two of them are over that age limit,” Wallace said.
The Fire District was able to purchase the vehicles two years ago. Wallace believes the district got more bang for the buck after acquiring the trucks. “The trucks were about $600,000 a piece, roughly, and in today’s dollars, they would be close to three-quarters of a million dollars apiece,” Wallace said.
Wallace believes that’s money well spent to keep the residents of Benton safe.
