Last modified: Wednesday, September 28, 2005 2:19 PM PDT OF&R gains key grant JESSICA KELLER ARGUS OBSERVER ONTARIO Ontario Fire & Rescue will receive almost $180,000 in federal grant funds to purchase much needed safety equipment for its firefighters. The fire department received notice on Friday it will receive $179,550 to purchase 28 self-contained breathing apparatus - or SCBA - from a Federal Emergency Management Agency Fire grant. Ontario Fire & Rescue Interim Fire Chief Terry Mairs said the grant could not have come at a better time because within the next year, all 28 of the city's current SCBA gear will become obsolete, because they will not meet current National Fire Protection Agency standards. Already, Mairs said, the department is running low on replacement air bottles because so many on the SCBA are past their shelf-life. Mairs said SCBA are necessary for firefighters' safety at fires because they provide them with oxygen - breathing air - when firefighters enter burning or smoke-filled buildings or unsafe environments that are not conducive to breathing easily. SCBA, Mairs said, are required to be able to respond to all types of fires. "If we weren't able to replace our air packs it would limit us as a department because all we could do when responding to a fire is stand outside and shoot water at a burning building," he said. Mairs said the department has tried to budget for the SCBA replacement in the past, but it was always cut from the final product until the current budget cycle. Mairs said SCBA cost about $5,000 apiece, which include the air mask, air bottles, air packs and personal safety device. Without the grant funds, the city would have had to purchase them anyway, probably using a five-year lease program, which is how they were budgeted for in this current budget cycle. The funds budgeted for the first year will be more than sufficient to cover the city's 5 percent grant match, which comes to $9,450. The remainder of the funds, Mairs said, will most likely return to the general fund, unless they are rebudgeted for other fire department uses. "I'll just have to develop a plan and take it back to the council," Mairs said. He said there is no shortage of projects those remaining funds could be used for. In the past, the city has applied for the FEMA fire grant to replace the aerial truck that recently had to be taken out of service, but was always denied. The aerial still has not been replaced, nor have funds been budgeted for its replacement because of the great expense. Mairs said the aerial is probably the top priority for his department. Mairs said, though, the department also has two other engines that will need to be replaced, one which is 35 years old, the other 23. He said the average life for a fire truck is between 20 and 25 years old, but some bigger departments replace theirs as soon as 10 years. "So we're hurting for fire engines because they're just pretty ancient," Mairs said.