It's 32,000 pounds of fury...
"You've got 1000 gallons of water, hose and equipment, plus personnel, plus fuel," said Tigerville Fire Department Commissioner David Reid.
But Reid says this heavyweight truck can't fight fires fast enough because this North Tigerville Road bridge can't support it.
"It's a matter of life and death," said Reid.
The truck weighs more than 5 times the limit posted forcing firefighters to take detours that waste time and risk lives.
"It's hard enough to fight the fire and get there but when you have to delay by the three, five, or ten minutes it takes to get around (the bridge) to the other side of Tigerville Road then that's totally unacceptable," said Reid.
So Reid asked 7 On Your Side to push the state for answers.
"I was out of options as a Commissioner," said Reid. "I had gone up as far the political ladder I could go and it was falling on deaf ears."
South Carolina Department of Transportation Maintenance Engineer Jason Allison says the state simply did not have enough money to fund the $300,000 cost to replace the bridge. But in the last few weeks they were able to bring in parts from another bridge to repair it at a cost of $80,000-$100,000. They tell us work will begin in the spring.
When asked why it took the media getting involved to move the repair process faster Allison replied, "That's not necessarily the case. We had been working on this project for a while and it was just a matter of this material coming available to us."
"It's the most good news we've had concerning this situation," said Reid.
Good news that will give firefighters a better chance at standing by their motto of "being prepared for the worst providing the best".
"I know the community will be grateful to Channel 7 for what's been accomplished here," said Reid.
There are more than 8300 bridges in South Carolina maintained by the state DOT. More than 2200 need repairs or upgrades.
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