Aug. 19 -- AMBRIDGE, PA -- Donnie Larrick and the rest of the Ambridge Fire Department already load on more than 100 pounds of protective equipment when they respond to a call.
But none of that gear can stop a bullet if they wander into a dangerous situation.
Thanks to a partnership between the police and fire department, that's now an option.
Council last week agreed to a program that will repurpose gently used bulletproof vests worn by short-term part-time officers to the fire department to be used in case of a dangerous situation, Borough Manager Joe Kauer said.
"In the back of your mind, they're there," said Larrick, assistant fire chief for the borough. "I tried my vest on, and hopefully that's the last time I put it on."
Kauer said regulations require the borough to buy a new bulletproof vest for every police officer, but some part-time officers don't stay long in their departments. Those vests can't be given to a new officer, he said, and are often left sitting unused.
"It's wasteful if they work here for a year and now there's no use for it," Kauer said. "What is a better use of that tax dollar, not using the vest versus trying to find another life for it?"
The vests are custom-made for the officers because they wear them continuously during a shift, Kauer said. But since firefighters won't be wearing them as frequently, a perfect fit isn't as important, he said.
"A lot of these guys are the same type of physique," Kauer said. "They're not going to wear it every hour like the police would, but it's a better level of protection than they would have before and a good use of surplus property."
While there haven't been incidents locally, Larrick said, firefighters in other states have been shot and killed when conducting a safety check on someone who thought the firefighters were intruders.
Officials said they want all first responders to be as safe as possible.
"We wanted to be able to give them the same types of protection as other first responders," Councilman M.J. Flannery said.
Larrick said the vests will be used for calls such as traffic directing during an active shooter call or a bomb threat. It will be rare for them to be used, he expects, but firefighters can always grab them just to be safe.
"Even if we get called out in the middle of the night, at 2:30, 3 in the morning, it doesn't hurt to throw it in with you," Larrick said. "We have them, but you aren't going to see us responding to a call for a fire alarm activation at a church with a bulletproof vest on."
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