Engine 1501 is house-hunting

Sharolyn Dawn
The Ellis County Press
AVALON - A brand spanking-new fire truck was awarded by a grant to purchase from FEMA to the Avalon Volunteer Fire Department. Delivered last Thursday to Fire Chief Roy Scruggs by Russ Petre of Emergency Vehicles of Texas Inc., the Engine 1501 is a 2003, Class A, E-1 Pumper, fully equipped for firefighting and trauma rescue.
It is NFPA certified, capable of pumping 1,250 gallons of water per minute, carries 1,000 gallons of water and four complete air packs with all the tools. The two bottles of air with each pack will sustain a firefighter for one hour inside a fire area. But with all her capabilities and potential, Engine 1501 is forced to live in a barn until better housing can be provided. FEMA gives grants for equipment but none for housing of that equipment and the present Avalon Station House is not large enough to hold it. Existing largely on donations and with only the annual $7,000 budget for Avalon's Fire Department, building a larger station house is beyond their reach, according to Scruggs. 'I'll take what I can get,' said Scruggs, 'And having this engine is the main thing. We'll just do what we have to do.'

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