BY KATIE SOBKO
The Record
STAFF WRITER
PATERSON — The city's Fire Department now has the money to buy equipment that can alert firefighters when one of their colleagues gets into trouble at a fire scene.
Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., D-Paterson, announced Tuesday afternoon that the department has been awarded a Firefighter Investment Response Enhancement grant by the Department of Homeland Security. The $566,660 in grant money is for personal protection equipment, including air regulators for each firefighter and a state-of-the-art Pak-Tracker system. Paterson will contribute an additional $141,665, a 20 percent match as required by the program.
The system uses radio signals to locate firefighters working at a fire scene. Firefighter Fernando Rodriguez, who has been in the department for 20 years, outlined how the new equipment works:
"The system can be triggered in two ways," he said. "If the air is on and the pack is not moved for 30 seconds or if the firefighter hits the panic button."
Paterson is only the fifth department in the state to have the technology.
"Each device can keep track of 36 firefighters," Fire Chief Michael Postorino said. "We're receiving 10, so we can keep track of 360 firefighters. We have 330 in our department, so everyone will be accounted for."
The last firefighter to die in the line of duty in Paterson was John Nicosia in January 1991. Nicosia was killed in a fire that destroyed nearly an entire city block, including the former Meyer Bros. department store. He was 28 when he fell victim to one of the worst fires in the city's history.
"We aren't doing them any favors," Pascrell said. "This is what we need to do."
PATERSON — The city's Fire Department now has the money to buy equipment that can alert firefighters when one of their colleagues gets into trouble at a fire scene.
Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., D-Paterson, announced Tuesday afternoon that the department has been awarded a Firefighter Investment Response Enhancement grant by the Department of Homeland Security. The $566,660 in grant money is for personal protection equipment, including air regulators for each firefighter and a state-of-the-art Pak-Tracker system. Paterson will contribute an additional $141,665, a 20 percent match as required by the program.
The system uses radio signals to locate firefighters working at a fire scene. Firefighter Fernando Rodriguez, who has been in the department for 20 years, outlined how the new equipment works:
"The system can be triggered in two ways," he said. "If the air is on and the pack is not moved for 30 seconds or if the firefighter hits the panic button."
Paterson is only the fifth department in the state to have the technology.
"Each device can keep track of 36 firefighters," Fire Chief Michael Postorino said. "We're receiving 10, so we can keep track of 360 firefighters. We have 330 in our department, so everyone will be accounted for."
The last firefighter to die in the line of duty in Paterson was John Nicosia in January 1991. Nicosia was killed in a fire that destroyed nearly an entire city block, including the former Meyer Bros. department store. He was 28 when he fell victim to one of the worst fires in the city's history.
"We aren't doing them any favors," Pascrell said. "This is what we need to do."
