Days after an Atlanta Journal-Constitution investigation revealed failures of the breathing devices that provide firefighters with clean air while battling fires, at least one city is re-examining the gear and the manufacturer is fighting back.
Shortly after DeKalb County firefighters began using Draeger Safety air packs in 2009, firefighters began reporting problems: their air supply would occasionally cut off and pieces fell off the packs. Draeger told DeKalb those problems were unique, but the AJC found similar problems with Draeger's gear has been reported by fire departments in Phoenix and Anchorage, among others.
This week, Anchorage’s mayor confirmed the city has been working with Draeger for about two months on 44 reported problems since firefighters began using the gear last summer.
Mayor Dan Sullivan declined to comment beyond that official statement Friday but told KTUU-TV that Draeger has been cooperative in working to correct the problems.
“It’s a top priority for us to make sure our first responders have the best equipment possible and this equipment was not inexpensive,” Sullivan told the television station of the $1.54 million expenditure Anchorage made for the gear.
Draeger officials have repeatedly said the packs work as promised and say the problems are brought on by poor maintenance. The company battled back hard Friday, releasing a letter from the Pittsburgh company’s senior attorney to DeKalb complaining about the department going public with the problems that “trash our reputation.”
Several company officials also demonstrated the gear for the media at the Commerce Club in Atlanta Friday morning. They showed how maintenance issues, such as not lubing the valve, could create problems.
“We preach and we say to them, at least once a month, lubricate,” said Paul House, Draeger’s regional director. “It’s just good practice.”
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health is investigating the gear for those complaints and others at its laboratory in Pittsburgh. No findings have been released.
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