Fire engine lost in crash

Replacement could cost $500K, take two years

November 19, 2025 by G. Chambers Williams III

A rollover accident last Wednesday night destroyed the main fire truck for the Norris Volunteer Norris Fire Department, but neither of the two firefighters on board was injured, Assistant City Manager Bailey Whited said.

According to emergency personnel at the scene, the truck was responding to a traffic accident on Norris freeway around 8:30 when its right-side wheels slipped off the pavement on West Norris Road, causing the truck to roll over when the driver brought it back onto the road.

The 2012 Emergency One brand pumper truck, carrying firefighting equipment and a 750-gallow water tank, reportedly rolled over three times, then came to rest on its side on the grass off the left side of the road.

It ended up pointing back in the direction from which it had come. It was left in pieces by the crash, with the hood smashed on the driver’s side, among other extensive damage.

Whited said that while the truck itself was considered a total loss, “We had minimal equipment loss.”

Firefighters and other emergency personnel could be seen gathering fire hose that had spilled from the truck as a tow-truck crew prepared to remove the vehicle from the scene shortly after 9 p.m.

The accident did, however, put Norris in a bind for firefighting, leaving only its backup pumper – a 1995 Ferrara model – to answer calls.

Whited said the city is waiting to hear from its insurance carrier as to how much Norris will get to help replace the destroyed truck.

Buying a new one could cost upwards of $500,000, and could take up to two years to be delivered once it is ordered, according to sources with the Fire Department.

The best option, they said, would most likely be to find a used fire truck of the same or newer vintage and specifications for a quicker replacement.

As for the truck that crashed, it was paid for by Anderson County under a program that provided new trucks to all volunteer fire departments within the county.

With only one truck available for its use, the Norris department will be limited in its ability to provide mutual aid to other nearby fire departments until a replacement can be found and put into service, fire officials said.

Still, the city can depend on assistance from other departments in the event of a fire in Norris that would require more than one fire truck to handle. The Andersonville Volunteer Fire Department is the closest one to Norris, and some of its members are Norris residents.