Del City breaks ground on $5 million fire station
City leaders recently held a groundbreaking ceremony for a new central fire station, which will be named in honor of a hometown hero.
Located near SE 28 and Epperly Drive, the $5 million station will house fire administration offices and an emergency management operations center, and it will provide features that will aid in firefighter training.
“The new station brings it further into the city, which will offer a better response area,” Maj. Brandon Pursell said.
He said the current station off SE 44 was not designed to be a fire station and will become a storage area when the new station is finished next year.
Construction began in December on the 17,412-square-foot facility that will include a four-story training tower, the latest in training equipment for rescue scenarios and a large apparatus
bay to house vehicles.
Hometown hero
Mayor Brian E. Linley said the Michael Clint Hope Memorial Building will honor a Del
City native who paid the ultimate sacrifice during the Vietnam War.
“As a young man and Del City High School student, Mike spent a lot of time in his spare time hanging around the fire station that he lived close by, taking in all he could from the firemen that would be on duty,” Linley said.
“He was only 29 years old, and only 18 days away from completing his third and final tour in Vietnam when he was shot down and killed in action on June 7, 1970.
“Mike was a single father of two children and is buried at Sunnylane cemetery here in Del City, what a hometown hero.”
Capt. Hope, a fixedwing aviator in the U.S. Army, was the most decorated soldier from Del City to serve in Vietnam, Linley said.
He was awarded the Purple Heart, Vietnam Campaign Medal, Vietnam Service Medal and the National Defense Service Medal.
“He’s Del City’s own Audie Murphy,” Linley said.
Linley recognized some of Hope’s relatives who attended the groundbreaking.
Fire station features
Pursell said plans have been underway for more than two years, and the station will be funded by a sales tax extension voters approved last year.
“The first thing I’d like to do is thank the citizens for the 1½ cent sales tax renewal that made this possible for us to even start construction on this building and how important it is to us as a growing community,” Fire Chief Jim Hock said during the ceremony.
Pursell said the station will offer the comforts of home for firefighters, as the city focused on living quarters and other amenities for fire crews working 24-hour shifts. He said the new training equipment will give crews an edge in dealing with whatever situations come their way.
Pursell said the current station at SE 44 will provide much-needed storage space.
“When the main station was built in the 1960s the vehicles were much smaller and equipment was much less.
“We’ve acquired a lot more of equipment to meet modern needs,” hesaid.
Construction of the building is expected to be complete by the spring of 2018.