Brentwood Fire Department To Get New Turnout Gear After 20 Years

The Brentwood Board of Aldermen approved the purchase of thirteen sets of structural turnout gear — the protective clothing worn by firefighters — at its May 21 meeting at .

The new gear, which costs $31,980, will replace items that are 20 years old.

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) recommends replacement of turnout gear for front-line firefighters every five years. However no one — including Mayor Pat Kelly or new Brentwood Fire Chief Ted Jury — knows the reason for the lengthy delay in purchasing the protective clothing for the department.

has 21 firefighters; 13 are also licensed paramedics.

“For budgetary purposes, we replaced the worst sets of the old gear,” Jury said. “But we have money allocated from a different account to outfit two new employees. The remaining six guys will have their (turnout) gear replaced in 2013.”  

Chief Jury initiated the purchase of new equipment.

“When I joined Brentwood Fire Department in July of last year, one of the first things we did was to inspect the equipment." Although Jury was unwilling to describe the gear’s physical appearance in detail, he said it “was outdated and needed to be replaced.”

Replacing it became his number one priority and the fire department went through the budget process. “We also had to spec the gear,” Jury said, and that was time-consuming.

“I was surprised to learn that some of the turnout gear was that old,” Ward 2 Alderwoman Cindy Manestar said after the board meeting.

“They (our firefighters) should have the safest and most durable equipment available,” she said." As a newly elected alderwoman, I will do my part to make sure their equipment gets replaced in a more timely manner."

Towers Fire Apparatus Company Incorporated, in Freeburg, Illinois, will supply the gear. Three firms participated in the competitive bidding process.