July 27, 2010

Members receive upgraded turnout gear

      All 107 of the department's firefighters in the combat division were recently fitted for new turnout gear, the protective clothing that protects them in a fire.  The new turnout gear consist of coat and pant which were purchased from Morning Pride, located in Dayton Ohio.  The improved gear contains new upgrades that the previous gear purchased six years ago does not have.  One of the new upgrades is the DRD (drag rescue device), which is a drag harness that is between the outer shell material and thermal liner that allows another firefighter to drag a downed firefighter out to safety.  This harness attaches in the front of the coat and wraps around the chest and then around the back of the firefighters shoulders allowing the downed firefighter to be dragged without any undo stress on their shoulders.  Another enhancement is the new bi-flex action knee.  The previous knee protection only provided protection and padding to the front of the knee.  But with the new style of knee it actually bends with the knee allowing protection to the front of the knee as well as the sides of the knee.

         The new turnout gear has already begun arriving from the manufacturer and is currently being distributed after it has been inspected and logged in the department's database system.  The department maintained the same color scheme of black with green-reflective striping on the new gear as well.
   
     

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