United Refining donates to North Warren VFD
Photo submitted to the Times Observer United Refining Company’s Safety Director Tony Gigliotti (center left) and Fire Chief - Assistant Safety Director Mike McCluskey (center right) present a check to North Warren Volunteer Fire Department’s Captain Jerry Hammerbeck (far left) and Fire Chief Shawn Jones (far right), Monday morning.
The North Warren Volunteer Fire Department received a donation Monday from United Refining Company to assist in alleviating the costs of replacement self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA).
SCBAs are a key component of a firefighter’s protective gear that provides clean breathable air, as well as protects against burns, abrasions, and exposure to toxins. SCBAs also include a Personal Alert Safety System (PASS device) that will alarm in dangerously high temperatures and as well as motion alarms that help to locate trapped, injured, or otherwise unresponsive or immobile firefighters during an incident.
Due to their constant use in harsh conditions over time resulting in damage, as well as their overall age, the department’s 16 SCBAs are at risk of being out of compliance with government standards that would make them obsolete in terms of firefighter safety and reliability.
Twelve new SCBAs are one part of a broader more extensive plan by the North Warren Volunteer Fire Department that consists of training, replacement of apparatus and turnout gear, equipment maintenance, as well as recruitment and retention. This long-term plan not only comes at a high cost fiscally, but also personally, as the one-hundred percent volunteer department relies on its members to split time between family, the day-to-day responsibilities of the department, emergency response, and fundraising events.
The department serves Conewango Township and surrounding Warren County municipalities. The replacement SCBAs are designed to withstand higher temperatures and have upgraded alarm technologies, as well as allow for increased vision and ergonomics, will equip the department’s emergency responders with reliable personal protective equipment that will comply with current federal standards, as well as improve firefighter and community safety.