A few decades ago, many firefighters’ only protection from breathing smoke was a wet rag held to their mouths.

Now firefighters from rural volunteer and city departments alike seek money for high-tech equipment and training that keeps them safe amid the flames and smoke.

The Niota, Tenn., Rural Fire Department recently bought a $10,000 thermal imaging camera through the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program. The camera will help the Niota firefighters see hotspots after the main fire has gone out, Niota City Fire Chief Harrison Slack said.

“I don’t think we could have raised the money for that camera in 10 years,” Chief Slack said.

The all-volunteer, 25-person Niota department in rural McMinn County, Tenn., raises some of its money through donations, but usually only small amounts. Chief Slack said the department raised money to buy a diamond-tip saw that can cut through a wall in about 30 seconds.

High-tech equipment is good, but Dalton, Ga., Fire Chief Barry Gober said new technology can bring on what he calls “the Superman mentality.”

“They think they’re invincible,” Chief Gober said. “Construction nowadays is lightweight and will collapse quickly (even as) this equipment draws them deeper and deeper into a fire. All that stuff, it’s like a black widow.”

He and other area chiefs agreed that one of the strongest safety measures is having an experienced incident commander on the scene to tell firefighters when to get out of a building.

The annual Firefighter Fatalities Report from the U.S. Fire Administration counted 118 firefighters who died in the line of duty in 2007. Forty-seven percent were blamed on overexertion/stress, 30 percent from other on-scene incidents and about 23 percent from vehicle collisions.

gearing up

Chief Gober said overall safety strategies need another look.

He noted that recent reviews of the 2007 Sofa Super Store Fire in Charleston, S.C., where nine firefighters died showed a need for better training, equipment and staffing.

He said the Insurance Services Organization (ISO) fire ratings should be the starting point, not the end-all of evaluating department safety and efficiency. The ISO evaluates fire department effectiveness and sets insurance rates for home and business owners.

“One of the things is that Charleston was an ISO 1 (top-rated) fire department,” Chief Gober said. “To me, you can satisfy all of the ISO ratings and still not be safe.”

A nearly 30-year firefighting veteran, Chief Gober said technology has come a long way. Where firefighters used to work with only boots, suits and hoses, now many larger departments carry GPS devices that monitor each firefighter’s location. Self-contained breathing units are standard for everyone entering a fire.

Chief Gober looks to grants for help funding the added responsibilities his department faces each year. The full-time staff of 93 firefighters serves in five stations covering 20 square miles and more than 33,000 residents.

His department recently got a $393,000 grant from the Georgia Emergency Management Agency for heavy rescue equipment and a $52,000 grant for hazardous materials decontamination equipment.

the cost of training

But technology doesn’t do much good without proper training.

At the Dalton department, much of the training is done on site, including a 10-week course for new firefighters.

Sometimes department staff and state fire academies try to meet needs by sending trainers out to rural and small city departments.

Often, smaller departments are completely volunteer, and few can take off work to attend four days of training, let alone a four- to 10-week course, said Dayton, Tenn., Fire Chief Chuck Suttles.

He recently applied for a ladder truck for grants and is looking to grants from the federal SAFER (Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response) program to help bring on more full-time firefighters.

Chief Suttles said his staff of nine full-time firefighters helps train volunteers, and he partners with other area volunteer departments to bring in staff from the state academy in Bell Buckle, Tenn.

Tuition for Tennessee fire academy classes is $562 whether a firefighter attends the class on campus or a trainer travels to the department, said Roger Hawks, academy executive director.

But bringing in a trainer saves each firefighter $1,800 in meals and lodging costs for the 10-week course, Mr. Hawks said.

In Georgia, fire academy training, tuition meals and lodging are free, paid for by the state’s general fund, said David Wall, Georgia academy director. But Mr. Wall said many departments are unaware of what the college offers.

“We have about 660 fire departments in Georgia, about 500 of those are volunteer and probably half have sent firefighters to us,” he said.

The academy used to conduct about two-thirds of its training at the departments, but now does about half of its training off-site, Mr. Wall said.

Both Georgia and Tennessee academy directors said they need about 15 firefighters per class to justify the travel expense.

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