Newsday – Long Island Now

LINDENHURST

Fire department to use grant for air packs

The Lindenhurst Fire Department will buy 24 advanced firefighter “air packs” with a $179,000 federal grant.

Fire chief Michael DeGregorio said he was “ecstatic” after the Federal Emergency Management Administration grant was announced Wednesday.

The money will help bring the department into compliance with national standards for the breathing equipment firefighters carry with them when
working around heat, smoke or chemicals. The technical term for the equipment is self-contained breathing apparatus, or SCBA.

“It’s an instrumental tool in firefighting,” DeGregorio said. “Without it, we can’t enter a building with all the harmful toxins in the air. There are so many products in a house we don’t know about — this keeps us safe.”

The air packs cost about $6,400 each.

DeGregorio said it could be another two months before the air packs are delivered and put into service. With about 250 members, the Lindenhurst Fire Department will apportion the air packs between its six vehicles, he said.

Similar grants were awarded this summer to Amityville, Long Beach and Cold Spring Harbor departments. — NICHOLAS SPANGLER