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Falls City Volunteer Fire Dept. seeking funds for equipment

By John Nixon

02/24/2020

(KLZA)-- The Falls City Volunteer Fire Department needs to update their Self Contained Breathing Apparatus equipment.

Some of the current air packs date back to the early 90's making it not only expensive to maintain, but also hard to find repair parts for them.

Department Information Officer Jon McQueen addressed the issue with the City Council last week. He noted that while the Department budget allows $20-thousand for equipment, the cost for the new SCBA's would be $60-thousand. Standard codes are updated every couple of years to make sure equipment meets safety standards.

McQueen said new packs are also designed to be lighter, causing less fatigue on fire fighters. The new packs are about 10 pounds lighter and are designed to more evenly distribute the weight on the fire fighter.

The veteran Falls City firefighter said grants for equipment are very competitive with the opportunities to apply opening and closing in short order.

To purchase six air packs with an six extra air bottles the cost would be $52-thousand, to include 12 extra bottles the cost would come to $60-thousand.

McQueen discussed borrowing funds from a local bank to purchase the new air packs and paying the loan back over several years from the annual equipment purchase fund.

The Council voted to table action on the request allowing a couple of weeks to research funding options and review grant options.

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