The Champaign Fire Department has seen its responsibilities grow significantly over the past 15 years, and now, thanks to a Federal Emergency Management Agency grant and financial assistance from the City Council, they have the state-of-the-art tools they need to fulfill those responsibilities.

Within the last month, federal money has allowed fire department officials to purchase almost $600,000 worth of new breathing equipment, including pressurized tanks, air compressors and equipment designed to help rescue firefighters pinned down inside a burning building.

“The stuff we had before was pretty comprehensive and well-maintained,” said Firefighter Jeremy Mitchell. “I really like the new stuff a lot, though . we’re glad to have it.”

Lt. Gary Gula, Respiratory Protection Program coordinator, was instrumental in obtaining the money that allowed Champaign firefighters to obtain the new equipment. Old air tanks were beginning to reach the end of their usable life, he said, so he and other officials sought a FEMA grant to help the department acquire new tanks and revamp their entire Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) system.

“The packs we had were getting to be antiques,” Gula said. “They were only 2,200 (pounds per square inch air pressure). The new ones are 4,500 . because the whole industry is going high pressure. If you have the low pressure stuff, like we used to, you’re kind of in the dark ages.”

Gula described how new air compressors at the station can fill pressurized tanks with filtered air in a matter of only 2-3 minutes, allowing firefighters and hazmat teams to quickly replenish their air supplies. Generally, hazmat units employ tanks that contain 60 minutes worth of air, while firefighters use smaller 30-minute tanks. In both cases, a number of pre-filled tanks are kept aboard fire trucks, as emergency personnel routinely empty two or three of them on one call.

Equipment purchased with the grant will also allow firefighters to fill replacement tanks safely at the scene of an emergency rather than having to return to the station or cut corners on safety procedures.

“We can fill the tanks from larger tanks in the belly of the truck,” Gula said. “Before, we’d have to fill tanks on the ground, which can be very dangerous.”

Another FEMA-funded boon to firefighter safety is the Rapid Intervention Team bag, which contains equipment needed to rescue firefighters trapped inside a burning building with a dwindling air supply.

“The (Rapid Intervention Team) bag is a very critical piece of equipment that we’re relying on heavily to help . and we probably would never have gotten (it) without federal money,” Gula said.

All of the new equipment obtained under the grant has gone into service within the last two weeks or so.

The department has not had an opportunity to use the equipment to their full capacity, but firefighters wear their units on about 80 percent of all emergency calls, so they are already being put through their paces on a daily basis.

As a whole, Champaign firefighters seem to appreciate the new equipment as invaluable to their safety and their enhanced ability to perform the dangerous work they stand ready to do at a moment’s notice.

“It’s very easy to use,” Mitchell said. “It gives us a lot of options . and more tools to help us rescue an injured firefighter.”