North Texas fire department turns to GoFundMe for new fire engine, other critical supplies

In Tool, a town in Henderson County, the fire department has one very big Christmas wish.

They say their trucks and equipment are dangerously outdated and they need more than $1 million in new tools to fight fires safely.

The department has turned to GoFundMe to ask the community for help with the overwhelming cost.

A fire truck that won’t start.

Air tanks are at risk of exploding.

These are some of the challenges these rural firefighters are up against when lives are on the line.

“It’s all in the heart,” said Randall Newkirk, a Lieutenant at the Tool Volunteer Fire Department. “You’ve got to have the want and the desire to do it.”

At the Tool Fire Department, a team of 15 volunteers is tasked with keeping more than 2,000 people safe.

It’s a big responsibility, and they say the equipment they have has been making it tougher.

“It makes it really hard,” said Katelynn Renae Newkirk, assistant chief administrator for the department. “It’s tough, and dangerous really.”

The fire department said their only fire engine had to be jump-started to be able to respond to a fire.

A few nights ago, when they got a call for a house fire – the engine wouldn’t start at all.

“I felt kind of helpless to the family,” said Randall Newkirk. “Because you really shouldn’t be responding to a structure fire with a brush truck.”

Another issue: the SCBA oxygen tanks they use to breathe while fighting fires are more than 20 years old.

“It can explode if we don’t have it full,” said Katelynn Newkirk.

The lining of many of their boots and firefighting suits has also worn thin.

“It can put your life at risk, your skin at risk just from burns and things like that,” said Heath Hamaker, a firefighter with Tool VFD.

The department said their emergency services district in Henderson County has ordered a new engine on a payment plan, but Tool VFD still needed new air tanks and suits, along with repairs for its boat to make water rescues on the neighboring Cedar Creek Reservoir.

The total cost of these upgrades is more than $1.2 million.

“That’s new apparatuses, new gear, new SCBA, the SCBAs alone are close to $300,000,” said Hamaker. “It’s just a hard task out here in a rural community.”

The department has launched a GoFundMe to help raise the money, calling on their community to help them serve safely.

“To be able to have what we need,” said Katelynn Newkirk. “To be able to save people’s lives and our lives as well.”