Hot Springs Village board approves fire truck purchase

In a continued effort to update an aged fire-truck fleet, Hot Springs Village Property Owners’ Association Board of Directors last Wednesday approved the budgeted purchase of a new pumper truck. Fire Chief Jason Miller said it will replace a 26-year-old truck. Fire trucks are built to order, and delivery is taking longer than in recent years. Delivery of a Pierce-bodied Freightliner is expected in March 2024. Fire trucks currently are taking 27 months to build, and costs have risen. Two years ago a very similar truck was ordered for $460,000, but the new truck will cost $569,105 delivered to Saline County, which does not have a county sales tax. Garland County has a 1.5 percent sales tax. Miller said the department had formerly bought demo trucks. But demos are no longer available – substantially increasing the delivery time and cost.
Hot Springs Village Voice

Suspicious liquid found in a shed leads to day of confusion for Delaplaine residents

VIDEO: Delaplaine residents experienced a hectic day Monday after the Greene County Office of Emergency Management released a statement about a suspicious liquid found in a shed and advised people to stay indoors. Fire crews from around the area rushed to the scene to test what this liquid was. Jonesboro Fire Chief Marty Hamrick said the tip came from a man working on the scene. “They were doing some work around the place and found an old bottle that they thought had a known product in it,” Hamrick said. The man doing the work said, “I heard that it was poison,” so he did not feel comfortable checking it out by himself. When Hamrick arrived, he took the necessary precautions. “We were anticipating going into a chemical event so we have to protect ourselves, maybe go a little bit of a higher level than we need to until we identify the product then we can scale back from there,” Hamrick stated.
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