DeKalb approves new air packs for firefighters

DeKalb County’s firefighters will be getting new breathing equipment.

In a budget committee meeting on Tuesday, a group of commissioners voted to approve funding for new air packs. Air packs supply firefighters with oxygen while fighting fires.

The commissioners requested the county use $2 million in the fire department’s general reserve fund to pay for the gear.

Last week, DeKalb County's CEO suggested the county explore other options before agreeing to purchase new equipment.

Currently, DeKalb's firefighters use Drager air packs.

Channel 2 Action News reporter Erica Byfield put in an open records request for any information involving air packs in DeKalb County; and the county provided more than a 1,000 documents.

The documents include pictures, memos from firefighters detailing equipment failures, repair requests, incident reports, medical reports, correspondence with Drager and a spreadsheet outlining problems with the air packs.

A 2012 budget request Chief O'Brien gave to CEO reads:

"Current air packs tend to shut off during routine firefighter maneuvers. Firefighter safety will continue to be an issue if the air packs are not replaced. The time required to re-establish air supply could be crucial to preserving civilian life and property."

A Channel 2 News investigation revealed problems with the air packs in February 2010.

A memo from a captain to his superiors in October 2011 said, "While operating on a house fire, I experienced a failure with my air pack. I was released from Grady about two hours after the incident and treated for mild smoke inhalation."
Byfield spoke to the three commissioners on the budget committee.

"How can you have firefighters have malfunctioning equipment, no matter what the cause is, and we can ignore that?" asked Commissioner Elaine Boyer.

"Our fire chief is saying we need to go to a different vendor for this and I support that and it ought to be reflected in the budget," said Commissioner Lee May.

Commissioner Sharon Barnes Sutton said, "We were committed to trying to make this problem go away. We know it's important that we protect our firefighters."

Channel 2 also found documents Drager sent DeKalb County about specific problems. In almost every case, Drager found nothing wrong with the equipment.

On Monday, the North America CEO for Drager told Byfield he stands behind his product and the reports in DeKalb County are inconsistent with the experiences of thousands of other users worldwide.