09.b1 Staff Report Turnout Gear 2023
Staff Report
Date of Meeting: November, 21st 2023
To: City Council
From: Mike Hinz, Fire Chief
Re: Turnout Gear Replacement
Background:
Firefighting turnout gear is what the fire fighters wear as PPE, this consists of a helmet, particulate hood,
turnout coat, turnout pants, boots and gloves. Firefighting turnout gear has a useful life of 10 years per NFPA
standard 1971, so back in 2015 the department came up with a plan to bring our gear into compliance with this
standard. To achieve this it was decided that we would purchase 3 set of gear (boots, bunker pants & bunker
coat) every year at a cost of $3,000 per set. During COVID we were not able to purchase these items and are
requesting to increase to 4 sets to try to improve on our replacement schedule. This addition of the 4th set of
gear puts us over what the city administrator is allowed to approve. Currently we are out of date on 12 sets of
gear plus 4 sets when the new members complete their probation for a total of 16 sets of gear that will be out of
date at the end of the year.
The current pricing is as follows
Boots = $320
Turnout Coat = $1,794
Turnout pants = $1,175
Total cost per set = $3,289
We did apply for and receive a grant for $5,000 to assist with this purchase this year and will be requesting to
use some of the funds the city will receive for public safety aid from 2023 omnibus tax bill for 2024 purchase of
gear..
Issue:
Should the city council approve the purchase of a 4 sets of replacement turnout gear?
Proposal Details:
Purchase 4 sets of replacement turnout gear (boots, bunker pant & bunker coat) from Jefferson fire &
safety in the amount of $13,156.
Fiscal Impact:
We did budget $10,000 for uniforms and gear though we only have $5,476 remaining in that fund, we have
made adjustments to other line items to compensate for this expense.
Options:
(1) Approve purchase of 4 sets of turnout gear
(2) Approve a different number of sets of gear to purchase
(3) Deny the purchase of turnout gear
Recommendation:
Option (1).