Danielson Fire Station asking for a larger budget to replace expired equipment 

The Danielson Fire Station is looking for a budget increase for much-needed equipment.

Officials are asking for a budget of $200,000. Right now, they are only working with $25,000. Danielson Fire Station Chief Keven McNeill says one set of proper gear can cost at least $6,000 per firefighter. 

This isn’t the first time this concern has been brought up. 

“We have requested an emergency meeting three times already and have been denied,” said McNeill. 

The fire station said their last straw was responding to the house fire on Hawkins Street about a month ago. The fire injured about 30 cats and six people. Most of the cats passed away in the fire; however, the fire department confirmed there are three cats that survived.

“One of the firefighters realized very quickly that his gear was ill-fitting,” McNeill said. “He was going to go to the interior, and then he was able to realize that very quickly that gear just wasn’t going to fit him. That was the final breaking point where we decided that we need to put a little more pressure on the fire commission in the borough.” 

Firefighters said they scrambled to put on gear to respond to that house fire. McNeill all of it was mismatched, meaning the equipment didn’t properly fit the firefighter. 

“It’s very frustrating. We got on scene, and we had members that were coming up to me saying, I don’t have enough gloves, or I’m missing this,” said Caleb Davis, the President of the Danielson Firefighters Association. 

The fire department said it has only eight sets of proper working gear as of now. As NBC Connecticut toured the station, lots of gear was expired and clearly damaged. 

“We can’t do our jobs if we are not safe, if we are in danger, or then we’re not able to help others, we can’t do anything. And gear is absolutely essential to our job.” said Davis. 

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