RAPID CITY, S.D. (KELO) — A top-of-the-line firetruck and a multi-purpose building are the newest additions to the Rapid City Regional Airport.

This brand new Aircraft Rescue Fire Fighting or ARFF truck holds about 3,000 gallons of water and is nearly 23 years newer than the truck it is replacing.

The Station 8 crew is excited about the addition.

“3,000 gallons is a lot of water compared to a standard fire truck. A standard fire truck is going to have somewhere between 700 to a thousand so our trucks have a lot more water on them because we are dealing with a lot bigger fires and we have to extinguish a fire much faster,” Capt. Neill Goodart, Airport Firefighting Rescue Captain, said.

Not only is the Rapid City Regional Airport getting the brand new truck but also this new multi-purpose building that is 4,500 square feet.

“We are going through a large amount of development here at the airport and as we transition into the terminal project, we are doing a lot of some of the smaller work that we need to get done in an effort to get us through the next decade,” Patrick Dame, Rapid City Airport Exec. Dir., said.

Fire crews and airport officials all joined in on the ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate.

“So it is really exciting and kind of an apex time for transitioning the airport and moving it ahead,” Dame said.

Not only will these additions help with the growing airport needs, but they will also help to keep traveling passengers as safe as possible in case of emergency.

“It really provides the firefighters out here a lot of confidence knowing that when they pull the truck out and they need to use it that it is going to do what they need it to do, when they need it to do it,” Goodart said.

The Rapid City Airport’s new fire truck cost around $856,000. It is specifically designed to meet the unique challenges of airport firefighting.