Tulsa Tech Students Restore 'Spirit of Oklahoma' FDNY Fire Truck, Honoring 9/11 and OKC Bombing Victims
Students at the Tulsa Technology Center Broken Arrow Campus are undertaking the restoration of 'The Spirit of Oklahoma,' a former FDNY fire truck. This cab-over-engine apparatus was originally purchased for the New York Fire Department by Oklahoma students after 9/11, raising approximately $400,000 (equivalent to about $1 million today). The truck served with the FDNY for two decades before being retired and gifted to the Tulsa Fire Museum. Now, under the guidance of diesel instructor Shannon Fargo, students are working to revive the truck's engine and mechanical systems. The vehicle bears the names of 10 New York Task Force-1 members who responded to the Oklahoma City Bombing in 1995 and later died on 9/11, serving as a tangible link between the two tragedies.
