The new fire chief in Pangburn said he plans to bring major improvements to the volunteer fire department.
"With the new fire tax that has come in, it has opened a lot of doors for us," said Blake Ellis, a 27-year-old White County deputy who took over as fire chief at the first of the year.
White County voters approved a quarter-cent sales tax in November that will give each volunteer fire department in the county nearly $6,000 monthly, according to Pangburn Mayor David Wilson.
"A lot of it [money] is going to be growing the fire department as far as [purchasing] apparatuses and equipment," Ellis said.
The Pangburn Volunteer Fire Department lacks the newest, up-to-date equipment that would allow first responders to serve more adequately and efficiently in some emergency scenarios, according to Ellis.