Life-saving breathing masks and air tanks for Pittsburgh firefighters are set to roll off a Murrysville assembly line today, ending a nearly yearlong squabble between City Council and Mayor Luke Ravenstahl over how to pay for them.
The city matched a $953,400 Federal Emergency Management Agency grant to pay Cranberry-based Mine Safety Appliances to replace 436 self-contained breathing apparatus, or SCBAs, that reached the end of their recommended 15-year lifespan. The equipment allows users to breathe inside smoke-filled rooms.
"Taxpayers got a really good deal," said mayoral spokeswoman Joanna Doven. "I understand it was important/symbolic for (MSA) to provide SCBAs for Pittsburgh firefighters, as they provide this equipment for cities throughout the world."
MSA was the lowest competitive bidder, she said. Firefighters have been using breathing units manufactured by Draeger Safety Inc., a German company with offices in Pennsylvania and Texas.
In July, Public Safety Director Mike Huss accused City Council of redirecting money set aside in this year's budget to match the federal grant. Council members shot back that Ravenstahl's administration failed to include money to replace the equipment in the proposed budget.
Doven declined comment on the dispute.
"What they were saying was we had no capital budget, and it's council's fault that we had no capital budget. That was a mischaracterization," said Bill Urbanic, council budget director.
To pay for the firefighter equipment, Ravenstahl authorized 10 budget transfers from other accounts. The largest transfer was $575,000 from the Bureau of Building Inspection's budget for condemned building demolition.
Ravenstahl has stressed the need to demolish condemned buildings, which can become fire hazards and havens for drug activity. His 2012 budget increases the demolition budget to $3.32 million, up from $3.24 million, a portion of which comes from federal grants that restrict use of the money to impoverished neighborhoods.
In October, Ravenstahl and council authorized spending an additional $500,000 for demolitions this year.
The National Fire Protection Association recommends replacing the breathing units every 15 years to reduce the chance of failure.
On Valentine's Day in 1995, three Pittsburgh firefighters died during a house fire of asphyxiation. Their air masks malfunctioned.
Low-air indicators and personal alarm locators did not work. An investigation revealed the units failed to meet one or more performance tests, but investigators couldn't determine if those problems led directly to the firefighters' deaths, according to a 2001 FEMA report.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
