TAFT — Volunteer firefighters accepted the keys to a new pumper truck Tuesday, adding a new weapon to the department’s firefighting arsenal.

Clifton Lee, requisition officer for Taft Volunteer Fire Department and former fire chief, said adding the one-ton Ford truck to its fleet would never have been possible without a couple of key programs and the administrators.

Receipt of the truck, Lee said, was made possible through the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry’s rural fire defense program. The equipment mounted on the truck was purchased with the Taft Volunteer Fire Department’s share of proceeds generated by Muskogee County’s sales tax dedicated to the improvement of area fire protection districts.

“This really means a lot,” Lee said during the dedication ceremony outside the fire station. “Now we will be able to get around a little better, help out other departments when needed, and protect the residents who live here.”

Ernie Moore, rural fire coordinator for Eastern Oklahoma Development District, said Taft’s fire department was selected to receive the new pumper unit because of the department’s needs and its location.

“While looking at the county’s needs, I felt it was really important that we have a dependable unit in Taft,” Moore said of his review of applications for assistance. “This unit will help the department safely fight fires and protect its citizens and others should it be called into service to assist other districts.”

Vice Mayor Essie McIntosh, who served as chairwoman when Taft Volunteer Fire Department first organized more than 20 years ago, said Moore and his EODD colleagues have been “a great asset.”

“They have a great attitude down there,” McIntosh said of EODD. “Whenever we have a question, they find us the answer. They do a really good job.”

Moore commended Oklahoma lawmakers who appropriated the funding necessary to set up the state’s rural fire defense program after more than 2,250 wildfires scorched more than a half-million acres in Oklahoma during late 2005 and early 2006.

Rep. Jerry McPeak, D-Warner, said that legislation continues to provide $5,100 a year to rural fire departments statewide despite declining revenue receipts.

Sen. Earl Garrison, D-Muskogee, said in addition to that funding, local lawmakers were able to secure an additional $25,000 that will be used to purchase defibrillators for Muskogee County fire departments that don’t already have them.

“These rural fire departments need our help,” Garrison said. “They are our first line of defense for our families, and as they become better equipped they serve as useful tool in the promotion of economic development.”