Pocatello fire department hopes city council will approve new equipment

The Pocatello Fire Department is in need of some new equipment.

The equipment will cost about $400,000. Pocatello city council will vote on Thursday night whether or not to approve the funding for the new gear.

The money would be used to buy new self-breathing gear. It would include 63 air packs and all the bottles to go with it. The masks would be outfitted with Bluetooth technology to make communication easier when in the gear. The new equipment would also be more lightweight.

Travis Smith, assistant chief of operations with the fire department, said the current gear the department has is getting outdated. It’s about 10 years old and doesn’t work as well as it should.

He said some of the equipment has been having failures for quite some time. He said when firefighters are in situations where they need that gear, they can’t afford to have equipment fail.

Smith said the department has been trying to plan and budget for this new gear for quite awhile.

This is phase two of updating outdated equipment. Last year, the city council approved an $85,000 budget for new preliminary equipment that was needed.

Smith said he and the other firefighters are grateful for the city council’s help and cooperation through the whole process.

“Them being committed to this process really means a lot to us as firefighters and to invest in our safety in this matter, shows a lot about their will and their intentions and I appreciate that,” Smith said.

The city council meeting begins at 6 p.m. at City Hall.