LUZERNE COUNTY, Pa. — New equipment will help volunteer firefighters in Pittston Township be ready for any call.
"When the bell goes off, it's not a good day for somebody, so we have to be ready for every aspect of every call," said Jordan Consagra, Pittston Township Fire Department president.
Consagra says fires are getting harder to fight and more dangerous.
"New construction homes are definitely going up faster. It has a lot more carcinogens, toxins, cancer products that we, as firemen, have to deal with on a daily basis."
The department is one of six in Luzerne County to receive a bit of help purchasing new equipment, with a total of nearly $600,000 awarded in federal grant money.
"This particular grant allows you to put in for higher-ticket items that maybe not a lot of other grants allow you to do. So having this grant on our side and being successful is really huge for us," Consagra said.
The high-ticket items include such as breathing apparatuses.
Mountain Top Hose Company No. 1 will use the grant money it received to replace more than a dozen of them for their crews.
Their department was awarded more than $125,000 to help replace breathing packs that are more than 10 years old.
"Add 'emergency services' to it, and it automatically goes up in price," said Capt. Harold Fisher, Mountain Top Volunteer Hose Company No. 1.
Pittston Township will get a batch of new breathing devices as well. They'll also get a compressor to fill them. Each one provides firefighters with about 45 minutes of air.
"Fresh air, you're not getting any of that cancer products that it may cause, and it makes for a huge impact inside of the house. Because otherwise, we'd never be able to get in there and do what we have to do," Consagra said.
The new funding is a lifeline for these volunteers who are putting their lives on the line, making sure they're equipped and ready to answer the call.
A total of $1.05 million in federal funds was awarded to ten regional fire departments, including six in Luzerne County.
The $573,079 in AFG grants awarded to Luzerne County include:
- Freeland Fire Department: $215,045 to purchase 24 self-containing breathing apparatus and 14 face pieces.
- Mountain Top Hose Company No. 1: $126,706 to purchase 14 self-containing breathing apparatus and eight face pieces.
- Nanticoke Glen Lyon-Alden Volunteer Hose Company: $121,403 to purchase 14 self-containing breathing apparatus, 26 face pieces, and two rapid intervention team packs with portable air supply systems.
- Pittston Township Volunteer Fire Department: $50,000 to purchase self-containing breathing apparatus air compressor/fill station.
- Plains Township Fire Department: $30,952 to purchase protective personal equipment gear-cleaning equipment.
- Duryea Excelsior Hose Company No. 2: $28,973 to purchase 10 multi-mode compliant portable radios.