MOULTRIE, Ga. — The Moultrie City Council voted Tuesday night to purchase new extrication tools for the fire department.

The current tools, used to cut or tear open automobiles to free trapped accident victims, were purchased in 2003, Fire Chief Jeff Thibodeau said. They’re both worn out and obsolete — if they break, no one makes the parts to fix them any more.

It’s the second significant equipment upgrade for the fire department since Thibodeau became fire chief Aug. 5. The department is waiting for delivery of new helmets paid for with a donation from Woodmen of the World. Every firefighter will get a new helmet; the oldest ones in use are 10 years old.

The extrication tools are battery-powered, which is an improvement from those that are now in service, Thibodeau said.

“When the guys go out to an accident scene they’re no longer tethered to a hydraulic line or power cord,” he said.

A new set of the tools costs $37,000, but Thibodeau knew someone at the manufacturer, TNT Rescue, from his previous job at the Valdosta Fire Department. He said the company offered to sell Moultrie the set that salesmen demonstrate to fire departments. They’re only a year old and come with the same “forever warranty” that a new set does.

The cost for the demo tools was just over $26,000, Thibodeau said, which is $7,000 less than the city had budgeted.

“With the money we’re saving from that we’re also getting a battery-powered ventilation fan to evacuate smoke from a house,” he said.

Thibodeau said the fire department currently uses gasoline-powered fans, so that even after the smoke is pulled from a house, the fans’ motors have filled the house with carbon monoxide that has to be allowed to dissipate before the homeowner can go back inside. The battery-powered fan, which is actually more powerful than ones currently in service, will allow people to go back in the house as soon as the smoke is removed.

And there will be enough money left over to get a battery-powered Sawzall too, he said.

One more benefit: The batteries to all of these tools, even the extrication equipment, can be purchased off the shelf at local hardware stores.

“These tools are almost twice as powerful as the ones we have now,” Thibodeau said. “They’re lighter and more portable.”

In other action Tuesday, the Moultrie City Council:

• Received recognition from the state Department of Community Affairs as a Georgia’s Exceptional Main Street (GEMS) Community.

• Approved a license to sell beer, wine and liquor at Packer Stadium Bar and Grill, 125 First St. S.E.

• Approved Rich Gallagher, Katie Jenkins and Steve Webber for the new Humane Society board. They were the city’s only three applicants. Colquitt County Commission will also be appointing representatives to the board.

• Approved an amendment to the city’s alcohol ordinance to bring it more in line with state regulations. One significant change disconnects a beer card — the license an individual has to sell alcohol — from the location where he or she works. That will allow a worker for a company with more than one location to sell at all the stores using the same card, and it travels with the worker if he or she leaves one job for another. The company itself will still need a license to sell alcohol at each location.

• Voted to draft a resolution in support of local building codes. A group of developers in the Atlanta area is encouraging the state Legislature to prevent municipalities from making such local ordinances, and the city council wanted to make sure legislators know they oppose the developers’ proposal.