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Rural Fire Department presents 10‑year capital plan and vehicle replacement needs
Summary
Chief Peru and rural fire leaders presented a 10‑year capital plan describing station conditions, training center work and a request to fund annual apparatus replacement to maintain equipment within a 25‑year service life; commissioners were shown a vehicle inventory and proposed funding rationale.
Maury County—s rural fire leadership presented a 10‑year capital plan outlining station conditions, training needs and a rolling‑replacement plan for apparatus. Chief Peru (rural fire chief) told commissioners the department has many stations built between the 1980s and 2010s and a mix of community‑built and county‑built facilities.
The presentation listed immediate needs for specific stations — Santa Fe and East Murray were described as high priorities because of moisture problems and aging buildings — and noted a training center completed in 2023 using donated funds. Chief Peru said the department seeks to reach a replacement model where frontline fire apparatus serve 20 years followed by five years in reserve, with total retirement after about 25 years. He told the commission that replacing vehicles on a regular schedule would require modest, sustained funding and estimated the necessary revenue would amount to approximately a four‑penny tax increase (estimate phrased in meeting as an approximate tax‑rate illustration) to keep apparatus from reaching 45 years of service before replacement.
Chief Peru and staff also described shortages of tankers at stations and explained that insurance underwriters increasingly demand water‑delivery capacity onsite; the chief described recent work supporting property owners in Santa Fe to create a pre‑fire plan to satisfy insurers.
Commissioners asked about maps of station coverage and the location search for a new Santa Fe station site; staff said maps and GIS heat maps exist on county resources and that department members can share station tours and further documentation.
