The Poplar Bluff Fire Department will soon put new air packs into service thanks to a federal grant worth $141,000.
"Our system is (nearly) 15 years old," explained Chief Ralph Stucker. "If the guys don't have (the air packs), they are not making entry into a house ... they're not going to be able to go into a structure."
The department's self-contained breathing apparatuses (air packs) will be 15 years old in 2019, Stucker said, and all 60 bottles will have to come out of service.
"The last time I bought bottles they were $1,100 a piece ... that's a substantial investment the city has to make," Stucker said.
The department applied for and received an Assistance to Firefighters grant through the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said Stucker, who expressed his appreciation to the new city planner, Matt Winters, who wrote the grant while he was at the Ozark Foothills Regional Planning Commission.
"When we put in for the grant, we put in for 30 air packs," Stucker said. "(The grant) basically covered 24."
The city had to pay the 5-percent difference in the $174,655 cost of the air packs, Stucker said.
"We're looking at close to $30,000 that the city is going to be spending for almost a $175,000 investment," Stucker said. "We would have spent twice that on bottles if we had to replace the bottles."
Stucker said this puts the city's firefighters in "brand new equipment that's going to take care of them for the next 15 years."
The department, he said, received three bids, ranging from $174,655 to $203,057.
Company representatives came to Poplar Bluff for Stucker and the most of the department's firefighters to see their products.
Stucker said he and the firefighters looked at the pros and cons, and Banner Fire Equipment in Roxana, Ill., came out on top.
The department received its 30 new air packs, each of which came with an oxygen bottle, and 30 extra bottles last week.
The extra bottles are needed because "we have gone through all the bottles on fires that we've had in the last few years more than once," Stucker said.
The air packs, according to Stucker, are "basically like the old ones, but different."
The shoulder straps on the new packs pivot and move with the firefighters' bodies and also are adjustable to fit the height of the firefighters, Stucker said.
"We've got short guys, and we've got tall guys ... our guys that are 6-foot-5, this was the most comfortable one they tried on," Stucker said. "I think it is because they can adjust that."
Only two of the manufacturers the department looked at had that capability, said Stucker, who indicated the new packs and bottles will mean "very little adjustments" need to be made on the fire trucks.
The new bottles have what Stucker described as "quick connects. When the guys have to swap a bottle out, in the past, you had to sit there and unscrew the threads.
"It just took forever. If you didn't have it lined up, you had lots of problems. Now, you have a quarter turn, and the bottle pops right out."
A firefighter now can swap out a bottle in less than 10 seconds.
"Whereas, the old ones, 10 seconds and you're still twisting and turning," said Stucker, who indicated the bottles can be set back in quickly so "you're good to go again."
The bottles themselves, he said, are the same size as what the department currently is using.
The packs, Stucker said, also are equipped with a "buddy breather."
"If someone gets down inside (a structure) and needs air (or) they have a problem, we can come in and hook them to each other," Stucker explained. " ... It gives us more time, especially if we get (someone) trapped, to get that individual to safety."
The pack's material is more rubberized as compared to the old ones, Stucker said.
"When they got wet, they stayed wet," he said. "This, we can take a garden hose and some soap and wash (them) off.
"Clean up will be a lot easier, and we won't have the carcinogens that we're exposed to in a fire adhere to this as much as to the other ones."
The face masks are a little bit different than what the firefighters are used to in regard to how they go on, but they come with a "voice amp" feature, which will allow their voices to be amplified from speakers located on each side of their masks, said Stucker, who indicated that ability will make communication a bit better.
This system, according to Stucker, is upgradable, and one feature the department may be looking to add in the future would be "team talk" to enhance communications amongst themselves.
The team talk, he said, would allow the firefighters, while wearing their masks, to talk with each other without having to "key up the radio."
"Communication has been a really big problem," said Stucker, who indicated their current radios sometimes break up or have static, making transmissions garbled.
"We can't guarantee that they are hearing us," he said.
When conditions deteriorate in a structure fire, Stucker said, it may be necessary to evacuate any firefighters inside the building.
"I want to hear if there are problems" inside the building and "if they are on their way out" should evacuation be called for, Stucker said.
Banner's representative, Jeff Banken, was in Poplar Bluff last week to go over the equipment with each shift of firefighters.
Stucker said a couple of the packs were sent to each station "for the guys to practice taking them on, taking them off, swapping bottles out. ...
"I'm pretty certain it will be a couple of weeks before we put them into service."
Stucker said his firefighters are all pleased with the air packs, but there is a learning curve as there always is for something new.
"It will take a little while to get everyone comfortable," he said.
The air packs, according to Stucker, meet the 2013 standards for self-contained breathing apparatuses, but their software can be updated to meet the new 2018 standards.
Leaving them at the 2013 standards, he said, means the department (since it would be two standards out) would be eligible to again apply for grant funding when it comes times to replace them.
"In another eight years ... they can start applying for grants and will have a big window to be able to replace them again," Stucker said.
Not updating the software, "I feel like ... gives them a better shot on the backside to be able to turn around and replace them," Stucker said. "This way, the city is not having to replace the whole cost of them" in the future.