Fire Chief Patrick Egloff. (File photo)
WESTFIELD – Westfield Fire Chief Patrick Egloff is hopeful the city will receive a grant to purchase ballistic equipment for use on fire apparatus.
Egloff applied for the AFG grant last year but has not received notification yet.
“I believe everything is backed up because of the government shutdown,” Egloff said. “No news is good news — there’s still hope.”
Egloff said the department has one ballistic set, which includes a helmet, vest and carrying bag. Each set costs about $1,000 and Egloff proposed purchasing 30 sets in the grant.
“We’re not looking for one for every person, but it’s for positions on apparatus,” said Egloff. “So, if two people are on an ambulance, we will have two vests on the ambulance. Engine four has four people, so we would have four vests, etc.”
The equipment would be positioned on apparatus at each fire station throughout the city and will aid personnel in responding to an active shooter situation.
“This allows us to go in behind the police and be protected in an active shooter incident,” Egloff said. “With this, we can treat people while it’s happening.”
Hope E. Tremblay can be reached at [email protected].
