FEMA grant will help equip firefighters

By Randy Bell

With some crucial equipment approaching the end of its service life, the Clinton Fire Department reached out to the federal government for help. And Fire Chief Levius Buckley announced at the October 6 Board of Aldermen meeting that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) had approved a $390,739 grant, enabling the department to replace the air packs his firefighters use when they go into a burning structure.

“That’s a large, large number,” Buckley says, pointing out that the total budget to replace thirty-eight of the self-contained breathing apparatuses (SCBAs), including masks, harnesses, air tanks and related equipment, was over $429,000, leaving the City with a local match of about $39,000.

The purchase will include four Rapid Intervention Team (RIT) packs.

“That’s what we use if we have a firefighter go down,” the chief says. “We can bring air to them.”

According to Buckley, the cost of air packs has skyrocketed since the last time the department bought replacements.

“That comes up every fifteen years or so,” he says. Looking back, the chief found that the quoted price in 2012-13 for similar equipment was around $125,000. As those air packs have gotten older, Buckley says, “they’re no longer making parts to fix them.”

Firefighters may not use air packs very often, but the chief says they’re required in smoky conditions.

“It’s really important to wear your air pack in a fire. [There’s] very toxic smoke, carcinogens, particles [in the smoke]. The smoke does not taste good,” Buckley says. “The air packs allow us to be aggressive [in fighting a fire] and be safe at the same time.”

The tanks firefighters carry provide a forty-five-minute supply of air. But the chief says the air may be used up more quickly during an intense fire attack.

“You roughly cut that in half for actual working time, full-out fighting fire,” but it varies according to the physical condition of a firefighter and their experience. Buckley says new firefighters tend to “get excited” battling their first few fires and use up more air, whereas fire department veterans can pace themselves, allowing their air supply to last a little longer.

Even though Clinton Fire now has fifty-eight firefighters, the chief says the thirty-eight new air packs will be enough to fully equip the department.

“Everybody doesn’t get their own air pack,” he says. “Everybody does get their own mask. We have thirty or so [air packs] spread out on all of our vehicles, so it more than covers the need, with spares.”

The money to replace the air packs came from FEMA’s Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program.