The City Council voted 12-0 to withdraw $500,000 from the city's stabilization, or savings account, to buy the new pumper truck. It will replace a truck that is 16 years old.  

"This purchase will put the fire department in a very solid position in terms of our ability to respond with reliable apparatus when needed," Fire Chief Dean Desmarais said.  

He urged the City Council to approve the purchase as soon as possible since the price of the new truck increased by $13,908 in early February. Desmarais said he had negotiated a deal with the vendor to extend the original price of $488,823 but only if they acted within a week.

Arafat hopes old cars will become history in two – three years, should the ongoing EUR 600 million tender be successful. The funds allotted from this budget would allow to buy some 500 fire trucks.  

Bucharest will also have 13 new firefighter units, with fund allotted for four of them this year.

Emergency intervention services in Romania are also equipped with old ambulances, many of which already a mileage above 1 million kilometers, according to Arafat. Over 60% of the ambulances used by the Ambulance Service and by the emergency rescue service SMURD are older than ten years. Tenders are ongoing for three types of ambulances, and the first new ones should arrive this year.