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Last Updated: Nov 12, 2017 - 8:11:35 PM |
Monday, October 21, 2013 - At the October Meeting of the Refton Fire Company Fireman's Relief Association, the Volunteers unanimously approved to sign with Scott Safety for the new Self Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) that the Volunteers have been looking to replace. This is history in the making for Refton Fire Company in that they have always used MSA Brand Air Packs since the beginning.
The Refton Volunteers started earlier this year with the process of looking at replacing the fleet of SCBA's. The current National Regulations only allow a Self Contained Breathing Apparatus to be in service for fifteen (15) years or no more than two revisions (which occur every five (5) years) out of date. The first round of SCBA's that are due to go out of date for good start in mid 2014. It is possible to upgrade the current SCBA's and that was an option on the table for a period of time. After it was discovered that it would cost at least $75,000.00 to upgrade all of the current SCBA's, they started looking at purchasing brand new as it would not be financially feasible upgrade the older Self Contained Breathing Apparatus. The cost to purchase brand new SCBA's with the latest technology along with related accessories will cost the Refton Volunteers just under $100,000.00.
The Volunteers looked at several name brand SCBA manufacturers and took many different items and scenarios into account before making the final decision on which manufacturer to go with. Besides many of the technological upgrades the Volunteers will be receiving (which will help to enhance the safety of the firefighters as they are working at a fire) they will be able to have significant interoperability with mutual aid companies as over 95% of the surrounding fire departments that the Refton Volunteers provide mutual aid assistance to either currently use Scott Air Packs or are currently in the process of purchasing that particular brand.
We will also be looking to upgrade our Station's Cascade System. The Station's Cascade system is currently set up to only fill a maximum of 4,000 psi air cylinders at a time without having the machine that generates the air running all of the time while filling air cylinders. The new SCBA's will be coming with 4,500 psi air cylinders, which means it will be more time consuming to fill the new cylinders with the current system. The Refton Volunteers are in the process of applying for a grant to upgrade the cascade system to more efficiently handle filling the larger capacity cylinders. The Volunteers won't receive word on this grant till sometime in the first quarter of 2014.
Along with the new SCBA's, the Volunteers are also purchasing two RIT (Rapid Intervention Team) Bags. These bags are used in emergency situations when a firefighter may be tapped inside a burning building or other type of hazardous atmosphere.
The new Scott SCBA's will be purchased through Fire and Rescue Products, Harrisburg, PA and anticipated delivery is scheduled for late spring/early summer of 2014.
https://www.scottsafety.com/en/us/Pages/ProductDetail.aspx?productdetail=Air-Pak+75+SCBA%2c+2013+Compliant
Air Pack that the Volunteers will be purchasing.
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