PUTNAM COUNTY
Eatonton Fire Department firefighters now have a new weapon up their sleeves for fighting fires. The department recently received a Blitzfire Nozzle, donated by Gro Tec in Eatonton, a subsidiary of Pennington Seed.
Eatonton Fire Chief Eugene Hubert and several firefighters demonstrated the new nozzle to Gro Tec officials on Friday, Feb. 10.
“I thank Gro Tec for this donation,” Hubert said. “It is a big asset to the fire department and the community as it will help us better protect the residents and businesses of Eatonton as well as keep our firefighters safe.”
With an online list price tag of more than $5,000, the Blitzfire is a nozzle that attaches to a fire hose and operates unmanned.
It has sharp, carbide tips on the legs that keep it anchored to the ground as the nozzle delivers up to 500 gallons-per-minute of water as it automatically oscillates up and down and back and forth, just as a firefighter would do to cover a fire.
It can sweep 10 to 50 degrees up and down, or 10 to 20 degrees to either side of the center, and can spray the stream of water up to 180 feet, Hubert said. It has an automatic shutoff safety feature, as well.
“It can go back and forth by itself, cooling everything while the firefighters are able to move out of danger, especially if the fire is on something such as a propane tank that could explode,” the chief explained.
Dustin Pennington, the health, safety and environmental manager for Gro Tec, echoed Chief Hubert that the nozzle is not only meant for use at Gro Tec but anywhere in the community that it is needed. Pennington and his brother, Daniel Pennington, are both members of the City of Madison Fire Department and understand what is needed to fight fires.
“Gro Tec will continue to support the local fire department and we are honored to be able to help the community with this purchase,” Pennington said. “We want the community to have the same protection that we do.”
Gro Tec was built in 1989 in Eatonton. Over the years, it has grown into a total of four production warehouses, Pennington said. A fire burned the entire place down in the early 1990s, but there have been no fires since then on the approximately 50-acre property located on Madison Road.
Its four departments are shipping, fertilizer, granular (insecticides), and liquid (hummingbird food and herbicides). Gro Tec Products are shipped across the U.S. and sold in retailers such as Walmart, Home Depot, Lowe’s, and other lawn and garden businesses.
Pennington noted that the fertilizer is not made at the Eatonton plant; it is blended there from compounds that are shipped in separately.
Gro Tec currently employs about 100 people, and that number grows in excess of 180 employees during its peak season, according to Pennington.