Bovina volunteer firefighters have a new weapon to fight fires in their district.

The volunteers showed off their new combination pumper/tank truck Monday as part of a ceremony marking the receipt of a $70,000 Rural Fire Truck Acquisition Assistance Grant from the Mississippi Department of Insurance.

State Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney said the money from the grant comes from a special fund composed of a fee paid by homeowners when they purchase their insurance that is set aside for special programs.

“This is one of the best programs we have,” he said, adding since 1994, the state’s match under the grant program totaled $650,000 in Warren County.

Warren County Fire Coordinator Jerry Briggs said the money represented the state’s match toward the $280,000 truck.

“We were able to do this last year for Culkin,” he said. “This will really help with the expansion of Bovina’s (fire) district. We were able to lower Bovina’s fire insurance rating from 10, which is the lowest, to an eight, which saved homeowners 40 percent on their fire insurance. We expect the state Fire Insurance Rating inspectors to be in Bovina soon, and they could drop the rating to a 6, with the addition of this truck.”

He added Bovina is now in the process of planning a fire station for the Ceres Industrial Park.

Assistant Bovine fire chief Tim Bordelon said the new truck carries a 1,500-gallon per minute pump and can carry 2,000 gallons of water a 20-gallon foam system.

“We can use it to either attack a fire or in support,” he said. “Getting this match also helped us to get new breathing systems and air tanks, which is very important. This grant allowed us to spread the money around and get equipment.”

District 5 Warren Count Supervisor John Arnold, said over a five-year period the county has raised
$2.6 million from the special fire district millage assessed in the county’s five fire protection districts.

“As supervisors, we’ve learned how important rural fire districts are, and they have 100 percent of the board’s support,” he said. “I want to commend Commissioner Chaney for his help, and our legislators. They have never let us down. We go to them for help and they take care of us.”