An excerpt from the Richmond Register's story on the announcement:

By Ronica Shannon Register News Writer

Congressman Ben Chandler, D-Sixth District, announced a $186,200 grant to the Kirksville Volunteer Fire Department to purchase a new fire truck.

“I want to congratulate Kirksville on getting quite an extraordinary grant,” Chandler said. “This is a really big deal.”

The fact that the Kirksville Volunteer Fire Department received the federal grant “... says something about the quality of work being done there,” Chandler said. “You all spend your time taking care of people in this community and we appreciate the fact that your protect us.”

The county’s volunteer fire departments help provide fire protection throughout the county, which is quite large, Clark said.

“There’s no way we can provide this service without our volunteers,” he said.