ABBEVILLE - There are many buildings in Vermilion Parish named after people. A majority of them, if not all of them, are named after someone who is deceased. On Tuesday, Vernice Leger saw his name on the side of a new $200,000 fire truck.

The emblem on the side of the truck is of a fireman with the name “Mr Vernice” on top and the number 506 inside the fireman.

The Indian Bayou Volunteer Fire Department named their new truck after Leger,who has been with the fire department since its start in 1976.

Leger, who is 77, signed up to be one of the first volunteers of the fire department and he has stayed on ever since. The Indian Bayou native was stunned by the naming of the truck after him.

“I did not know,” said Leger. “They surprised me.”

He found out two weeks ago during the normal fire station meeting. Indian Bayou Fire Chief Kevin Villejoin and assistant fire chief Vernon Doucet brought him outside and showed him.

“We wanted to pay tribute to him while he was still around,” said Doucet.

The new tanker pumper, which is a 2011, holds twice as much water as the one pumper before. The old one, which will still remain at the station, holds 1,250 gallons of water. The new one now holds 2,500 gallons.

“It doubles the capacity we had before,” said Villejoin. “That is good for the community.”

The good news is the department has had the truck for two weeks and it has yet to be used.

The new truck was purchased by the Police Jury.

Leger is one of 20 volunteers for the Indian Bayou Fire Department. He goes out on calls despite his age.

“He is so dedicated to the department, and this is our way of saying thank you,” said Villejoin.