Fire departments working together to stop burning through gear money

The most effective way to put out a fire is to drown it in money.

It costs hundreds of thousands of dollars just to get firefighters the necessary equipment to put out a fire, which is something MoyalConrad knows all too well.

He's the fire chief in Greenfield, N.S.The department gets $50,000 a year from the regional municipality, but it must raise an additional $20,000 to $25,000 a year just to cover its costs. Conrad said they do that by holding a slew offundraisers.

"It just gets aggravating after a while, going to breakfasts and doing this and having to do that, just to make ends meet to buy safety gear or buy water to put in your fridge, so your firemen have something to drink," he said.

How much does equipment cost?

New fire trucks cost at least $250,000, according to Conrad, while the firefighting gear is also expensive:

• Protective jacket and boots $1,800.
• Boots $500.
• Helmets $500.
• Gloves $200.
• Flash shield $100.
• Self-contained breathing apparatus $10,000.

When fighting the fires, Conrad's department generally uses about 915 metres of 10-centimetre diameter hose, which costs about $3,000.

Conrad said it can be overwhelming when his department needs new gear because equipment is so expensive.

But there is help for smaller departments like his.

Firefighters across Nova Scotia havecome up with a way to keep gear costs down. They formed a Facebook group called Nova Scotia Fire Equipment Swap and Trade or Sell. On it, firefighters can give away, exchange or sell surplus gear, often at a steep discount.

Brandon Conrad is a lieutenant with the Greenfield fire department, andMoyal'sson. He said the department used the group recently to buy hose at a discounted price.

"It's a very great little site to have. There's other departments out there that don't have it as well as us, theirbudget for the year is not the greatest and having these little things go out there and at a decent price for people is great," he said.

The Facebook group has saved fire departments thousands of dollars.

It was set up about a year ago and currently has 1,569 members. TimMacNeil, a firefighter withShubenacadieFire and Emergency Services, started the group.

He put it together when he was with theLantzfire department. They wanted to donate some extra breathing apparatuses they had to another department.

However, outside of calling each department,MacNeilcouldn't find a way to let firefighters know the gear was available,so he created the Facebook group to connect firefighters and help them find discounted or free gear.

He said one department even recently gave away a couple of extra thermal-imaging cameras it had. The cameras allow firefighters to see a person's body heat through smoke and determine if someone is trapped.

The cameras areexpensive and go for$15,000 to$20,000 each, according toMacNeil.

"Those are life-saving pieces of equipment and you know it benefits their customers, their taxpayers," saidMacNeil.

"We can basically see some obstacles and go right to the person that needs the help and get them out very quickly."

MacNeilsaid he's happy the group continues to add new members because it means more departments will be able to get help.

"We're all firefighters and we're all brothers and sisters,so if we can help out our brother or sister, that's what we're going to do," saidMacNeil.