The truck will be used by the Refugio Volunteer Fire Department and will provide emergency fire service to the residents of Refugio and Refugio County.
“This grant is so important to the residents of the town of Refugio and Refugio County because they have had to endure many brush fires over the past few years,” said Congressman Hinojosa. “We must keep our emergency personnel, who put their lives on the line, equipped with the necessary tools to help them get the job done safely and protect the residents of their communities.”
The truck to be purchased is a F-550 with four-wheel drive to be fully equipped for use by the VFD. The grant funds were received under the Consolidated Security, Disaster Assistance and Continuing Appropriations Act of 2009. In July 2008, Hurricane Dolly affected parts of South Texas causing extensive damage and flooding to South Texas. Refugio Mayor Ray Jaso said the new brush fire truck is a much needed addition to the VFD in Refugio.
“We have only two brush fire trucks which we bought in the 1980s, so we definitely need this one,” said Mayor Jaso. “Every year we have lots of brush fires and these four-wheel trucks can get into places our larger fire trucks can’t come close to.”
The Volunteer Fire Department has 30 firefighters who cover thousands of acres of brush land and several cities in Refugio County. Mayor Jaso says the city will come up with $20,000 in funding to go toward buying the new brush fire truck.
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