Youngstown gets federal help to buy fire gear

YOUNGSTOWN — The city’s fire department will receive $159,856 from the federal government to purchase new fire gear.

The department is currently using fire gear that is five to 15 years old, said Fire Chief John J. O’Neill Jr.

“Under normal conditions, it’s supposed to have a life expectancy of 10 years,” he said today. “But we have an above-average number of fires so our gear gets exposed to a lot. Our gears’ life expectancy is less than 10 years.”

The money should pay for 132 sets of gear, O’Neill said. The department has 138 members, but six of them — the arson investigator and five inspectors — don’t use fire gear, he said.

The city will seek proposals from companies that sell fire gear and the department should have the gear by the end of January, O’Neill said.

The city is receiving the $159,856 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Assistance to Firefighters Grant program to pay for the gear.

The funds are designed to help fire-responder organizations pay for emergency-response equipment, protective equipment, firefighting and emergency vehicles, and training.