The Speed Volunteer Fire Department has a new 2,000-gallon tanker to help put out blazes in the town and around Edgecombe County.

The hoses attached to the tanker have a 500 gallons-per-minute output. The 2,000-gallon tank can be hooked up to the fire department's 1,000-gallon pumper for 3,000 gallons of water to fight fires.

Speed Volunteer Fire Department Chief Bobby Wheeler said the tanker hasn't been called out to a fire yet, and he hoped it would stay that way.

The $194,000 Pierce Dry-Fi tanker is kept indoors, but Wheeler said, "I hope it keeps sittin' there” instead of having to put out a fire with it.

The fire department took advantage of a grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that paid 95 percent of the cost of the tanker. The fire department was left with $9,700 of the expense.

Wheeler said all 20 members of the fire department have practiced with the tanker. They're all "tickled to death" to have the new vehicle, he added.

The new tanker replaces a 1980 Ford that could hold 1,000 gallons. Along with double the capacity, Wheeler said the new vehicle will be more dependable than the old one.

"(It) runs a whole lot better than the '80 model truck. (It) didn't want to run half the time. You run it, and you get it hot and it didn't want to crank," Wheeler said.

He added that having the new tanker is a morale booster, too, "having something new, something you don't have to work on all the time."

Edgecombe County Fire Marshal Butch Beach said Speed's tanker will "be used for a structure fire anywhere in the county" because of the mutual aid agreement for assistance between all the fire departments.

The water used to fight fires in many rural parts of the county "has to be trucked in," because of the lack of fire hydrants, Beach said.

That situation doesn't look to change very soon, as Beach said "it might be years before hydrants can be justified to be built" out in rural areas.

For now, Wheeler was relieved the truck is available and ready for use.

"That truck is well needed, and we're blessed to get it."