FL County's FFs Using Uncertified Breathing Equipment

Firefighters in a Florida county have been using uncertified breathing equipment after the warranty expired last year, and officials decided it was more cost-effective to replace the gear than repair it.

Escambia County now plans to spend close to $2.9 million to purchase 320 self-contained breathing apparatus devices for its fire department, the Pensacola News-Journal reports. That cost also includes buying 1,050 air cylinders.

Repairing the breathing equipment would have run the county an average of $50,000 annually, plus $500,000 to re-certify it with an air-flow test for another year, according to the News Journal. Instead, the department would buy replacements with the understanding that firefighters would be using uncertified equipment on calls in the meantime.

Escambia County Commissioners found out about the uncertified breathing gear at its meeting Thursday. Fire officials, however, did not know who made the decision to continue using that equipment or why the commissioners weren't told about it.

"Someone had to know that these were expiring and that the men were going to go in buildings with equipment that wasn't certified," Commissioner Jeff Bergosh said at the meeting. "To me it's incredible, the timing is incredible."

This past spring, the Escambia Public Safety Department faced a series of resignations following no-confidence votes for the department's leadership. The EMS division also is under investigation by the Florida Department of Health, the News Journal reports.