Grant to buy confined space gear for firefighters in two cities
UHRICHSVILLE (WJER) (Feb. 14, 2022) – The city’s firefighters will soon have specialized gear for responding to emergencies in confined spaces.
Chief Judd Edwards says it’s being paid for with a $15,000 grant from the Berkshire Hathaway company that they’re splitting with the New Philadelphia Fire Department.
“Phila Fire hosted a confined space class here last year that most of our guys took and a lot of their guys took, so we’re kind of working together on the project as far as buying similar equipment and if there is that type of incident, we’ll most likely work together on it.”
He plans to order the gear in the next couple of weeks but says when it might arrive is anybody’s guess.
“I can’t really answer that because of the supply chain issues of today, you know. Nobody knows when they’re going to get anything, but we’ll get the order placed here. It won’t be long since we have the funding.”
Edwards says it’s rare that they have to rescue someone from a confined space such as a tank or underground hole, but the few times that it has happened they had to get creative. He says the gear they’re buying will make responding to those types of situations a lot easier.