HELEN — Santa came early for Helen Fire Chief Jody Prickett in the form of a new departmental vehicle.
The red Ford F-150 pickup truck, purchased from Mike Jones Ford in Eastanollee, arrived early Tuesday and city officials picked it up and surprised Prickett with it when he arrived for Tuesday afternoon's city commission meeting.
The truck, ordered earlier this year, replaces a 20-year-old Ford Bronco the city bought from a nearby county for the police department, and is the first new pickup truck purchased for Helen Fire Department, said City Manager Jerry Elkins.
Under Prickett's leadership the department now has seven part-time employees providing around-the-clock coverage for the city. They are joined by seven volunteer firefighters.
"You've improved a department that was in bad shape, and we certainly appreciate that," Elkins told Prickett during the commission meeting.
The Bronco, recently upgraded by Helen firefighters, will remain in the fleet as a utility vehicle that can be used in inclement weather or where access by larger trucks is limited.
Also during the meeting, the commission adopted a resolution utilizing a lease purchase of a new fire truck from the Georgia Municipal Association's financial services program. The new fire engine, approved recently by the commission, is an HME Ahrens-Fox and will cost $406,802.
