The Del City Fire Department recently received two new four-wheel drive brush pumpers, used for the purpose of fighting grass and wild-land fires.

The new brush pumpers, built on a 2014 Ford F550 chassis, were purchased with funds from a 2011 bond issue approved by Del City citizens.

The new vehicles were designed by a committee comprised of firefighters and fire administrators and manufactured by Cooper Creek Manufacturing of Loyal, Okla. Some of the features of the new brush pumpers include: a front bumper-mounted turret nozzle, a beefed-up tire and suspension system, LED off-road lighting, a portable foam application system, heavy-duty wild-land tools, a 12,500lb winch, two mid-ship fire attack lines and a caring capacity of 300 gallons of water.

"We had a committee design the trucks," Major Brandon Pursell said. "We looked at what has worked well for us and what hasn’t." 

One feature in the design of the brush pumpers was an extreme off-road package that allows the trucks to traverse the various types of Oklahoma’s terrain. The aggressive tires and strengthened suspension can allow the trucks to safely travel off-road and minimize the possibility of getting the vehicle stuck. 

"We also put new upgraded radios in them so that we can communicate with different jurisdictions and national Inter operation frequencies," Pursell said. "Plus we went for the stronger wattage in case we had to go out to a remote area."

The design and purchase of the brush pumpers is the third project of the 2011 bond election.  The first project was the installation of the new outdoor warning system, which included eight sirens strategically located in the center of each mile section. This project was completed in December 2012.

The second project was the design and purchase of a 1977 aerial and two 1500gpm rescue pumpers, which was completed in July 2013. A fourth project is currently underway and includes the purchase of two fire investigation units and a command/communications unit.

These new brush pumpers have already been field tested, and they proved more than worthy.

"We deployed them at a Logan county fire," Pursell said. "We went up there to assist. We always try to talk with the guys when they get back and from their responses find out what went well or not; of course this time we wanted to know how the trucks did. We were actually able to help some of the other brush pumpers that got stuck and got them out with ours."