East Wayne sells firetruck for $1
By From staff reports
Published in News on December 16, 2014 1:46 PM
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The New Hope Fire department has "sold" a tanker for $1 to the Goose Creek Island Volunteer Fire Department in Pamlico County. From left are former East Wayne fire chief of 42 years Lenwood Earl Sauls, Goose Creek Island Fire Chief Bobby Hacker and Assistant Chief David Wellington. The Goose Creek department was devastated by Hurricane Irene in 2011.
Members of the former East Wayne Fire Department know what it is like to be a small department with a small budget.
So when they found another small department they could help, they did not waste any time in doing so.
Before its merger with the New Hope Fire Department, East Wayne was the smallest, lowest-budgeted volunteer fire department in Wayne County, said Blair Tyndall a member of East Wayne for more than 20 years, and who is now a member of New Hope since the merger.
In late 2012, the Little River Fire Department sold a 1980 model Chevy tanker to East Wayne for $1.
The truck was much needed at East Wayne and replaced a 1972 model tanker, Tyndall said.
After the recent merger the vehicle was no longer needed.
The Little River Fire Department was contacted to express East Wayne's desire to give or "sell" the unit to another department in need.
Little River agreed.
The unit was "sold" for $1 to the Goose Creek Island Volunteer Fire Department in Lowland in Pamlico County.
Goose Creek is a small rural volunteer department with no tax base and operates solely on donations from the district and fundraisers, Tyndall said. The department was devastated by Hurricane Irene.
The water rose so quickly that the trucks could not be removed from the building. The resulting damage was 4 feet of water in the station and on the trucks.
The department continues to recover from the damage, he said.
Tyndall found out about the department's need through his work as a risk control representative for the VFIS Insurance Co.
Goose Creek Island Fire Chief Bobby Hacker and Assistant Chief David Wellington picked the truck up on Nov. 28 and took it back to Pamlico County.
When they left East Wayne with their "new" truck to return to Goose Creek Island it became the newest year model in their fleet, Tyndall said.