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GREENVILLE, Texas — Two people were injured Wednesday when a Greenville Fire-Rescue Department engine crashed through the Dairy Queen in Farmersville.
The truck was one which the City of Greenville received last year, and which was paid for through the generosity of an anonymous donor. A company in Denton had been working on the vehicle and was transporting it back to Greenville when the wreck occurred.
Wednesday’s accident now leaves city officials wondering how they are going to replace the engine.
“We have a reserve unit, but we need to sit down and talk about that,” said Greenville Fire Chief Doug Caison, noting he was still waiting on information Wednesday evening on whether the accident will be covered by the company’s insurance.
“I haven’t even heard about that yet,” Caison said, adding Deputy Fire Chief Jeremy Powell went to the scene Wednesday. “And he’s the one talking to them.”
Greenville Fire-Rescue Unit 4 was being returned from Siddons-Martin, a dealer/service center in Denton Wednesday 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.
Dairy Queen Hwy 380 at Orange Stret
Posted by Farmersville Police Department on Wednesday, January 20, 2016
Two people were transported from the scene, the driver of the unit and a customer inside the Dairy Queen, neither of whom appeared to have life-threatening injuries. The accident remained under investigation Wednesday evening.
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.
At that time, the fire department currently had an aerial truck, three front line engines, one reserve engine and one reserve aerial truck. The city had not purchased any fire trucks in about seven years and one of the reserve pumper trucks, a 1993 fire engine, had been the source of repeated maintenance issues.
An anonymous donor contributed $150,000 in November 2013, again in December 2013 and also in January 2014, with another $200,000 coming from unspent funds from other capital improvement projects. The combination of funds meant the city was able to pay cash for the truck.
The engine itself cost $555,900, with another $100,000 included for the purchase of rescue equipment such as a hose, nozzles, extinguishers, and other items.
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