The county board that keeps Hinsdale's 911 system running approved $3.45 million in infrastructure upgrades Wednesday, Aug. 12, locking in new mobile radios for first responders and a three-year maintenance deal for the system that wakes firefighters when a call comes in.

The DuPage County Emergency Telephone System Board voted to renew a $723,180 contract with PURVIS Systems Incorporated for fire station alerting equipment maintenance, according to the board's meeting agenda. That contract covers Oct. 10, 2026 to Oct. 9, 2029. The board also transferred $1,563,881 for a mobile radio replacement project and approved a separate $1,167,645 payment on an existing Motorola financing agreement for the same radio overhaul.

For Hinsdale, the spending matters because the village's Fire Department, budgeted at 25.45 full-time equivalent positions and stationed at 121 Symonds Drive, is dispatched through DU-COMM in Wheaton. Every 911 call from a Hinsdale home routes through the ETSB's infrastructure before a truck rolls.

The vote came one day after a tornado warning swept DuPage County on Tuesday, Aug. 11, and less than three weeks after a storm dumped nearly 3 inches of rain on Hinsdale with 70 mph winds on July 28. As we reported Aug. 11, that second storm left hundreds of homes without power and marked the second severe weather event in 15 days.

The fire station alerting system, built by Rhode Island-based PURVIS Systems, automates the process of pushing incident details from the dispatch center directly to fire stations the moment a 911 call is processed. The system cuts the delay between a dispatcher answering and a crew rolling out. PURVIS counts the FDNY, Boston Fire Department and Los Angeles Fire Department among its clients.

The mobile radio replacement is not new spending. The $1.17 million Motorola payment is part of a six-payment financing agreement for the radio system; the same $1,167,645 amount was identified by the ETSB as the second of six payments in 2024. As far back as June 2024, ETSB Director Linda Zerwin told the DU-COMM Chiefs Operations Committee that portable radios were being distributed to agencies while the board awaited Motorola's timeline on mobile units.

No property tax dollars fund the upgrades. The ETSB operates entirely on 911 surcharge revenue collected from wireless and landline phone bills.

The board also approved a memorandum of understanding with the Village of Addison for AI-powered quality assurance software that will interface with the 911 system, and extended an AT&T trunk-line service contract by one year at no additional cost.

Fire Chief Jeffrey Pindelski reported to the Hinsdale Village Board in February and March that the department's snorkel truck faces production delays and a replacement ambulance won't arrive until 2029 or 2030. The radio and alerting upgrades represent a separate funding stream from those village-level equipment purchases.

Hinsdale Public Safety Week Ahead

  • ETSB next meeting: September 2026 (exact date not yet posted on DuPage County Legistar). Residents can monitor agendas at dupage.legistar.com.
  • Hinsdale storm recovery: Village public works branch collection continues following the July 28 and Aug. 11 storms.
  • FOIA access: Residents seeking ETSB records, including radio allocation details by agency, can file requests with FOIA Officer Linda Zerwin at [email protected] or 630-550-7743. The ETSB office is at 421 N. County Farm Road, Wheaton.