Some metro fire stations are getting a much needed upgrade. Station 52 and 23 are the first stations to receive new dispatch alerting systems.
Assistant Fire Chief Tim McCaw says upgrades were needed in order to better serve the community. “Our fire alerting system was aging and was going to eventually going to need replaced."
Voters passed a bond in 2016 which allowed for the upgrades to be made. The new system will receive digital information from dispatch, displaying it on screens throughout the building along with an automated tone.
McCaw says the new system brings Omaha stations into the modern day. "It's an upgrade that has taken hold across the country, this is the latest and the greatest.”
In the past, McCaw says, each station would hear every call in their room and would determine if it was their jurisdiction. “Now you have technology that is specific to your bedroom so for example if you are in a bedroom designed for Engine 52, only those designated for Engine 52 are going to hear that tone.”
Each station will be outfitted with the new system soon, with every one being online in the next six months.