Firefighters will have new airpacks

“Save me a bit of money…”

A request by the La Salle Fire Rescue for funds to purchase 40 airpack self-contained breathing devices and additional air tanks was met with resistance when elected officials learned a price tag could exceed $445,000.

County commissioners instead agreed unanimously to decrease the order with Heat Safety & Equipment to 35 devices, bringing the cost down to an estimated $290,000.

Fire Chief Daniel Mendez addressed the court at its Monday, February 23, meeting to ask for the funds and report that equipment currently in use is not only short in number but aging beyond its expected reliability.

The devices supply air to firefighters entering burning buildings. Chief Mendez said he hopes that each firefighter will have access to a second bottle of air in order to continue working in an emergency.

The bid was the lowest of three responding to a call for prices, Mendez said, and other companies making similar offers had done so with different brands of device or had not included additional air tanks.

Mendez said he hopes to supply every firefighter with new breathing apparatus by the end of the year.

“The existing ones from 2014 are coming to the end of their service life,” the fire chief told commissioners. “We have units that are out of service. The new units meet updated specifications that are going to be required by the end of the year.”

“Do you have this in your budget?” County Judge Leodoro Martinez III asked at the Monday meeting.

“No, sir,” the chief replied. “In ten years, we will need to begin replacing these again.”

“What do you do with the old equipment?” Judge Martinez asked.

“A lot of departments give them to Mexico,” Mendez said. “We have some that are really old ones.

“Going with forty units allows us to put them on every response vehicle,” he added. “We only have them on fire trucks right now. Any of us without an airpack at a scene of a major incident would just have to stand there. There’s nothing we can do.”

“If we approve thirty-five, that’s more than you have to replace,” the county judge said. “Save me a bit of money.”

“Thirty-five would be fine,” Mendez told the court. “We can put them on the ambulances as well.”

Judge Martinez said after Monday’s meeting that he believes the county will draw funds for the purchase from tax notes issued in late 2025.

Commissioners agreed last year to go into debt by $25 million in order to accomplish a number of goals in providing or upgrading public facilities. Those funds have so far been dedicated to resurfacing the Martinez Park Sports Complex in artificial turf and adding grandstand shades, a stadium-quality walking trail, and landscaping around the county’s new splash pad water feature play area for a total of more than $9 million. Other expenses include the $410,000 purchase of a former grocery store on Main Street in downtown Cotulla for conversion into an events center.

Commissioners have also agreed to draw up plans for construction of new food pantries in Cotulla and Encinal, build new offices for the Precinct 1 justice of the peace and constable, and are examining options for construction of a satellite fire and ambulance station on the west side of Cotulla near IH-35.

The decision this week to channel a portion of those funds to the La Salle Fire Rescue came on a motion by Comm. Raul Ayala, seconded by Comm. Erasmo Ramirez.