ATHENS, Tenn. — When three new fire engines are delivered in April to the McMinn County Fire Department, three rural county departments will take the old trucks.

The county furnishes one engine for each of McMinn County’s 11 fire districts. But each district also uses its own money to buy more equipment.

Three bid $21,000 to keep the 16-year-old trucks that McMinn County is giving up. County commissioners approved the purchase at their meeting last week.

“We appreciate the opportunity the county has given us to better equip ourselves,” said Brandon Frost, chief of the Etowah Rescue Squad and Rural Fire Department. “This truck will be used as a second engine company and also provide us with a tanker,” which provides a crucial water supply.

Etowah and Englewood house both a municipal fire department and the rural fire district for their areas.

Although the three Luverne fire engines have more pump hours than some other county equipment, personnel at the three stations know the equipment and will use it for backup.

McMinn County is buying three E-1 pumpers valued at about $750,000, said County Fire Chief Scott Thomson. He said plans are to continue replacing some of the county’s 11 pumpers each year, but that depends upon available funds.

Also last week, county commissioners approved a contract formalizing cooperative agreements among emergency responders.

Five departments that offer rescue and first responder services have not had specific call areas, only verbal agreements.

They asked the county to allow service areas to be set up as well as mutual aid agreements between the districts as a paging guide for county dispatching.