John Coffelt, Editor

North Coffee Volunteer Fire Department has used some of the additional funding that the Coffee County Commission tied to smoke alarm installations to purchase much needed equipment for the station.

With the $41,000 allotted to NCVFD, the department bought new turnout gear, a thermal imager (a handheld camera that can see hot spots in walls and find victims in smoke filled rooms) five new air pack, a smoke circulation and a washing machine designed to care for the firefighters’ turnout gear.

Chief Greg Wright said that volunteers were having to wash their carcinogen-coated gear at home in the same machines they wash their family’s laundry in.

Chairman of Health, Welfare and Recreation Jimmy Hollandsworth said that the station had some of the best numbers for instillations

“I’d like to thank North Coffee for all their installs,” he said. “They’ve gone above and beyond on the smoke detector program. 

North Coffee firefighters installed 240 smoke detectors for no cost to the homeowner through a state program.

Those smoke alarms have saved two houses in North Coffee the chief said.

John has been with the Manchester Times since May 2011. John has won Tennessee Press Association awards for Best News Photo and placed in numerous other categories. John is a 1994 graduate of Tullahoma High School, a graduate of Motlow State Community College and earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from Middle Tennessee State University. He lives in Tullahoma, enjoys painting, dancing and exploring the outdoors.