In the summer of 2011, Del City voters approved a $3 million bond issue to buy new fire apparatus and fund improvements to the city’s early warning system for tornadoes and other emergencies.

Currently, the city’s new fire apparatus are under construction at Ferrera Fire Apparatus, a company headquartered in Holden, La. The city contracted with the company for two rescue pumpers and one aerial truck at a cost not to exceed $2.4 million.

The city anticipates receiving the additions to their fire fleet in April or early May, Del City spokesperson Brandon Pursell said. The three trucks are truly custom-built with everything designed to meet the department’s needs.

"One of the big challenges we faced was the two rescue pumpers had to meet certain length requirements in order to fit inside Station 2," Pursell said "We are in contact with the manufacturer weekly on the progress of the trucks."

Additionally, Pursell said the department is in the process of designing the brush pumpers that will be purchased in the next few months.

Already complete is the installation of eight new sirens in the ground for the city’s new outdoor warning system, which cost approximately $200,000.

In late September, the city installed the first new siren in the Eagle Lake housing subdivision in the 3400 block of E. Reno. Local vendor Total Radio in Oklahoma City received the award bid for the project, and Grimes Electric is installing the individual sirens, Pursell said.

The city is now waiting on the installation of the infrastructure (control stations, computers, software, etc) for the sirens and expect that to start next week.

"We will be able to activate the sirens from Fire Station 1 (main location of the system control) and from police dispatch and from City Hall," Pursell said.

The new emergency warning system replaces the eight sirens the city currently has.

"The old system was becoming antiquated and difficult to find replacement parts," Pursell said. "We were seeing an increase in maintenance and repair costs. The new sirens will be solar powered and not be dependent on electricity to operate." this will be helpful incase of continued loss of power.

The new system should be operational by the October, Pursell concluded.