Thanks to grant money, Garden City Fire Rescue has some new state-of-the-art equipment and heightened training for firefighters.
On Monday, the latest purchase made possible through a more than $300,000 port security grant arrived at the Main Street fire station — all roughly 7,000 pounds of it. The shiny, red $84,000 Scott Liberty 2 mobile air compressor and generator will help firefighters keep their air tanks filled when battling intense blazes.
“It used to be, when we had a big fire, somebody would have to come back here, take all the spares, load them up, take them to the scene, take all the empty ones back and start filling them up here,” said Fire Chief James Crosby. “This gives us the capability of taking it to the scene and filling air bottles at the scene of the big incident. It cuts down a lot of lost time.”
Due to mutual aid agreements, Crosby said, other Coastal Empire fire departments can use the Liberty if the need arises. He said the only other fire department in the area that has such a device is Savannah Fire & Emergency Services.
For an example of when the Liberty would be employed, he mentioned the 2008 explosion and fire at the Imperial Sugar Co. refinery in Port Wentworth. He also said the air compressor and generator could be a boon when fighting a ship fire.
“If a ship catches fire, you’re going to be there for hours and hours, and we’d be able to fill four bottles at a time at the scene,” he said.
Also obtained through the grant were 32 brand new self-contained breathing apparatus, or SCBA, air packs that cost more than $260,000 due to their state-of-the art masks.
“Those come with the new CBRN masks, to protect from chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear,” Crosby said. “Because there’s no telling what could come inside that port one day.”
Just like the Liberty can be used by other agencies in need, the CBRN masks were obtained with the spirit of sharing in mind.
“We got enough that every Garden City policeman will have a face mask, too,” Crosby said. “Each member here already has one.”
Through a communications grant of $73,000, Garden City Fire Rescue purchased new pagers and portable two-way radios, and through what Crosby called “pinching pennies” with a port security grant, they sent 40 firefighters to Resolve Maritime Academy in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to gain certification to board ships and put out fires. Fourteen of them will work in conjunction with other Coastal Empire fire departments.
“We’re always looking for grants,” Crosby said.
On the Web: Garden City Fire Rescue Chief James Crosby talks about the department’s new mobile air compressor and generator.