Bad air in your tanks – One city declares an emergency to improve the air firefighters breathe
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In Henderson, Kentucky firefighters started to question if their were safer masked up or chancing it going old school. Their concern was the petroleum smell coming out of their SCBAs. Henderson officials heard those complaints and have taken action to put this problem behind them.
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Kenny Douglas & Jess Raatz, WFIE-TV:
14NEWS found out that the City of Henderson has spent $183,000 to replace air systems for city firefighters after officials declared the emergency.
City Manager Russell Sights says all air tanks were sent off to be tested. Those results showed they needed to either be cleaned or replaced.
Henderson spent $116,000 to clean about 50 air tanks and replace the hoses and nozzles, another $40,000 to replace a 14-year-old air compressor, and $7,000 on chest x-rays for all the firefighters.
Sights says those funds came from the cities surplus account after he declared emergency action needed to take place to protect the health of city firefighters.
