News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
The Algood Fire Department receiving new gear is a key first step in catching the department up on outdated equipment.
Fire Chief Victor Jones said 90 percent of his department’s gear was set to expire within a year. Jones said it is not a matter of technology changing, he said that after nearly a decade the old gear could not take anymore wear and tear.
“Next year, we’ll just keep doing the same thing,” Jones said. “Then hopefully within three years we can have everything turned over and start all over again.”
Jones said that the plan is to add an additional 10 turnout gear sets and three more self-contained breathing apparatuses next year for the 14 person department. Jones said updating the equipment is a key component to lowering Algood’s Insurance Services Office rating from a five to a four.
He said this will help Algood residents with their homeowners insurance costs. A municipalities ISO rating is on a 1-10 scale, with one being the best and 10 being the worst.
“We were a four but it went back up to a five for some water problems and our apparatus equipment,” Jones said. “So we’re getting a new truck and that’s going to bring that down and we’re doing a waterline expansion in Algood.”
Jones said that the goal is to have 20 sets of gear to outfit the department. He said even though there are 14 firefighters on staff, the department needs options when outfitting a member.
“When you get new recruits, they’re different sized people,” Jones said. “It’s hard to have everybody fitted and have just one size fits all, it doesn’t work that way.”
The Algood City Council approved the purchase of roughly $52,000 worth of gear for the fire department on Tuesday night. Jones said the department’s new fire truck is expected to arrive in the next two months.
