Starkville fire engines have new look
There is a new look for the fire engines in Starkville.
The Starkville Fire Department revealed a new pair of fire engines on Wednesday.
The new fire engines are emblazoned with a maroon and white color scheme to represent Mississippi State University, which is what SFD Chief Charles Yarbrough believes is such a big part of Starkville’s culture.
When it came to purchasing the $2 million trucks, Yarbrough said that the trucks that the fire department had prior were starting to reach the end of their age.
“Basically, the trucks we already had were giving us a lot of troubles, and we got to the point to where it would be more feasible to just replace them rather than repair them,” Yarbrough said. “Each truck has a projected length of life anyway, anywhere from 15 to 20 years, so I went to the board back in February and asked about getting new trucks for us in less than a year, and they did a really great job on getting those for us.”
Each truck is dedicated to honor two firefighters who had passed, one truck honoring Johnie Dawkins, and the other honoring Terry Doss.
“I was actually at home one day, and I was just trying to figure out what we could do with these trucks to make them look different than trucks we’ve had before,” Yarbrough said. “The Lord gave me the idea to honor those who are not with us anymore. Both of those guys meant so much to us, and to me as well, I had direct contact with both of them throughout my fire service career.”
Not only do the trucks honor the two late firefighters, they also honor the late Lake Little, daughter of Alderman David Little, and the late Surhaver Fair, son of Alderman Henry Vaughn.
“To honor both of them, especially for the two aldermen, because nobody wants to go through what they went through,” Yarbrough said. “I don’t think we could’ve come up with a better way to honor those names by having them on the trucks. For Lake and Surhaver, who were both very well known in the community, we really wanted to give back to their families and to let them know they will not be forgotten and to remind them of the impact they had on the community. To me, this is an awesome way to honor them and for the community to honor them as well.”
Much like Chief Yarbrough, Mayor Lynn Spruill is very proud of the fire department’s new trucks.
“These life-saving trucks are in the list of things that matter so much to our community,” Spruill said. “We are very grateful to have these new gorgeous vehicles that serve our community along with our firefighters, who serve our community. For them to be delivered during the Christmas season, in what has been a tough year, these have been the things that has helped us get through this tough year, and I am very proud of them.”