The Newton County Fire Department had 877 more calls in 2011, an 18 percent increase, and the vast majority of them were emergency medical and brush and grass fire calls. The Newton County Board of Commissioners approved Tuesday spending $97,605 on a specially defined 2012 Ford F-550, which will have a water tank and skid on the back to be able to handle medical and brush fire calls. Out of 5,691 calls, 3,060 were emergency medical while 253 were tree, brush or grass fires.