Source; Union-News (Springfield, MA)
Author: NATALIA MUNOZ
GOSHEN, MA – Air is what breathes life into fires, and firefighters. And when firefighters have exhausted all the oxygen in their portable air tanks, the time it takes to refill the tanks is crucial.
Most county fire departments have machines to refill the tanks, but they are at fire stations, not fire scenes.
Now, all that has changed with the unveiing yesterday of the Hampshire County Fire Defense Mobile Air Supply Unit.
Eight fire chiefs from the county’s 20 communities were on hand at the Goshen Fire Department to look over the big, bright red step-van that can refill air tanks at the scene of a fire within seconds.
“It’s a great idea,” said South Hadley District 2 Fire Chief Allan Simpson. “There’s a possibility we would have to call for this from South Hadley.”
Other fire chiefs present were Francis Dresser of Goshen; Glenn Trim of Ware; Robert Osepowicz of Hatfield; Victor Zumbruski of Amherst; Bernie Forgea of Cummington; David Daly of South Hadley’s District 1; and Samuel Joyal of Belchertown.
The chiefs were pleased to know that another layer of backup exists for their firefighters.
About two weeks ago, the van was used to refill air packs at a major fire in Worthington.
The 1979 van with 52,000 miles on it, donated by Northeast Utilities, is equipped with a generator that sucks air through a tube from outside the van. The air is compressed, then stored into three large air tanks.
The tanks hold enough air to refill the small ones that firefighters carry about 35 times, Dresser said.
Goshen was chosen as the home site for the van because its fire station has the room to accommodate it, he said.
Hampshire County commissioners allocated about $30,000 to refurbish the van, and, as County Commissioner Allen Torrey said, a lot of “sweat equity” went into putting the mobile air-supply van together.
Spare parts, ranging from the two-way radio to the siren, from county fire departments can be found on the van.
“We all scrounged around our benches and found things” to add to the van, said Simpson.
The chiefs all agreed that having the mobile unit has a lot of advantages.
Winston Bancroft, Chesterfield fire chief, said now he is less apprehensive about how much air is used in training sessions for new firefighters.
Also, as more fires exude toxic fumes, using air tanks is becoming more a matter of routine precaution, Simpson said.
“I even have my men wear masks at car fires,” he said.