A $150,000 grant from Smithfield Foods has allowed the Rose Hill Volunteer Fire Department to purchase a new fire truck with a 100 foot ladder, a bucket on the end, and a nozzle on that.
Until now, when a truck like this was needed in or near Rose Hill, officials said they had to call them in from other departments that are 20 to 30 minutes away.
Rose Hill Fire Chief Gary Boney says, "Time is everything, and just a couple of minutes can mean a big difference"
Firefighters say they needed this truck for previous fires, and they now have their own thanks to Smithfield Foods, a national farming corporation with more than a quarter of all their operations in North Carolina.
Smithfield Spokesperson Jonathan Toms says, "This community is also where our employees work, live and raise their families, so it's important to us to be a good neighbor in these places where we operate."