The Wellington City Fire Chief Matt Perea gave a brief update and presentation to the city council during its Wednesday evening work meeting.
First, he spoke on the USDA grant that is currently being applied for to obtain a fire truck. This grant would work to obtain $50,000 to join the $40,000 that has already been allocated. What is left for the cost would be split between the department and the city with a low-interest loan. The grant will take some of the cost and Chief Perea stated that, from there, the county reserve can donate a small amount each year to put toward the loan.
He then stated that he received the check for the Community Development Block Grant for the new air pack units that were recently obtained for the fire department. Chief Perea had one of the new air units and did a demonstration of them for the council. He stated that the tanks are a quarter of what the old unites used to weigh and the biggest advantage is the speaker.
The units are built into the face piece to ensure that when the regulator goes on, the department members are still able to hear clearly. According to Chief Perea, in the past, everyone’s dialogue was mumbled and difficult to understand. He continued by stating that the units run off a lithium battery that runs all of the systems. A low air alarm and display inside the face mask alerts the user to the battery strength and air left.
There is also an option for tank sharing in case of emergency. The department received 11 harnesses, 20 bottles and 18 masks. The entire set up for one unit costs around $8,000.
