Council receives update on fire engine accident

Jan. 27--The Greenville Fire-Rescue Department should be getting another fire truck before the end of the year, to replace an engine destroyed in a Jan. 20 accident.

"We feel like we will have a brand new truck by October of this year, one way or another," City Manager Massoud Ebrahim told the Greenville City Council Tuesday.

The council received a status report regarding the accident, in which a Greenville fire truck crashed into the Dairy Queen in Farmersville.

Ebrahim and Deputy Fire Chief Jeremy Powell briefed the council about the incident, noting the accident remains under investigation by the Farmersville Police Department.

"We do not have a report from their investigation on that yet," Ebrahim said. "We are still waiting on that."

Greenville Fire-Rescue Unit 4 was being returned from Siddons-Martin, a dealer/service center in Denton, and was proceeding east along U.S. highway 380 when the truck exited the roadway and struck the Dairy Queen. The truck was being operated by employees of Siddons-Martin at the time of the crash.

Two people were transported from the scene, the driver of the unit and a customer inside the Dairy Queen, neither of whom sustained life-threatening injuries.

Powell explained the city should receive the accident report in the very near future.

"Probably within the next two weeks will be the maximum," he said, noting the Farmersville Police Department was awaiting additional information about the crash before completing the investigation.

"Our apparatus had a black box on it that had some critical data on it," Powell said, adding the box was accessed Tuesday.

Ebrahim said one of the items which the city, insurance adjusters and the Texas Municipal League were waiting to receive was an appraisal of the value of the engine.

The truck had been delivered to the fire department last summer and was largely paid for by an anonymous donor.

The Greenville City Council voted in March 2014 to approve the almost $656,000 purchase of a Pierce Fire Rescue Pumper and equipment.

Powell said much of the equipment had been removed from the truck and stored prior to its being sent for service work under its warranty.

"There were some things on there that we couldn't take off," he said.

Neither Ebrahim nor Powell speculated on the accident itself, since the investigation of the crash was still ongoing.

Powell said the department will be utilizing a reserve engine during the interim.

"Fortunately, we had not sold the old Engine 4, so that puts in a better situation," Powell said even though it won't be the same as having an almost new fire engine on which the department can depend.

"There was a reason why we were getting rid of Engine 4, because it was not the most reliable," he said.

___

(c)2016 The Herald Banner (Greenville, Texas)

Visit The Herald Banner (Greenville, Texas) at www.heraldbanner.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.