The Oakland Fire Department now has some new tools that will help them stay inside burning buildings longer.
Thanks to a large Federal Emergency Management Agency grant, 180 self-contained breathing apparatuses have been distributed to the city's fire stations.
"Going from 30 minutes of time in a fire environment, searching for victims or putting out the fire, extending it to 45 minutes," Oakland Fire Department Lt. Nathan Leal told KCBS Radio from Fire Station 4. "It also gives us communication abilities with bluetooth communication that allows us to speak clearly."
That can be a huge challenge in an ultra-loud environment like a building fire.
These packs are replacing 20-year-old equipment. They’re lighter and sleeker, utilizing the same communication and air tank-filling system as neighboring fire departments in the city of Alameda and Alameda County and making mutual aid easier.
The equipment will enable firefighters to better locate victims and the source of fires, Leal said.
"We have a very unique challenge in this city because of the housing crisis," he said. "So, a lot of buildings have been retrofitted with multiple residences. When we go into buildings, we don't know what we're gonna encounter."
And 15 extra minutes of breathing time could literally be the difference between life and death for those trapped inside buildings.
Related
