PORTSMOUTH, NH—Fire officials approved spending some of the department's inheritance from the late Geraldine Webber to purchase breathing apparatus.
The Portsmouth police and fire departments each received $375,629 from Webber's estate and her last will and testament stipulated the money is "to be used for the purchase of safety equipment."
During the April 9 Fire Commission meeting, the three-member citizen-oversight board voted to approve the purchase of two self-contained breathing apparatus "retrofit kits." The vote notes the expenditure will not exceed $1,200.
Deputy Fire Chief James Heinz said the "SCBA" units allow firefighters to breathe clean air while fighting fires. He said they're mounted onto the seats in fire trucks and while firefighters are on their way to calls, they strap themselves into the packs. When they get to fire scenes, he said, firefighters flip a switch that releases the packs and they're "ready to go."
Heinz said the two new retrofit kits will be used in the Tower 5 truck.
Fire Chief Steve Achilles previously said the fire department's definition of safety equipment, in the context of the Webber inheritance, is "any article, device, tool, garment or equipment used or designed to minimize exposure to hazards and/or protect our employees, other responders or members of the public from injury or illness." He said it is also the philosophy of the department that the inheritance not be used for recurring costs.
Fire officials in 2017 authorized spending $16,000 of its inheritance to buy eight sets of ballistic-protective gear for firefighters who may be dispatched to an active shooter scene, or similar emergency. The fire department spent $59,000 from Webber's inheritance to purchase a generator and lighting for a rescue truck to power electrical tools and illuminate scenes at fires, crashes and rescues.
The Police Department has spent $25,229 of its inheritance for "public order equipment" for all of the Police Department's 64 full-time officers in sizes to fit each of them. Chief Robert Merner described the gear as resembling baseball catcher's equipment and said the sets include a chest protector, helmet, forearm and elbow pads, as well as shin guards. Merner said the gear will protect officers from thrown objects and other injuries if they're dispatched to manage an unruly crowd.
Police also used $14,064 of the inheritance for numbered uniform and hat badges for the officers. Merner said use of numbered uniform badges is the national standard and is more efficient, especially "during critical incidents when seconds count."
The inheritances included half of a $550,000 payment made to settle a legal malpractice claim Webber's estate brought against attorney Gary Holmes. He wrote a last will and trust for Webber, that left the bulk of her $2 million-plus estate to now-fired Portsmouth police Sgt. Aaron Goodwin. After a two-week trial, Judge Gary Cassavechia overturned those estate plans, while finding Goodwin exerted undue influence over Webber as she changed her estate to his benefit. Her prior will stood as a result.
Goodwin is still grieving his firing through his union and a report from an arbitrator is sealed by order of a Superior Court judge. That ruling is being appealed by the Portsmouth Herald to the Supreme Court.
———
©2019 Portsmouth Herald, N.H.
Visit Portsmouth Herald, N.H. at www.seacoastonline.com/portsmouthherald
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
