"We have an idea of what we need," said Fire Chief Alan Mannel "Our need exists today. It's not any kind of future need, it's a today need. Anything on the north end of town, basically anything north of Culver's, is out of our reach to effectively service in a timely manner. A fire can more than double in less than a minute. Time is the issue when it comes to a heart attack or a stroke."  

The department will seek a request for proposals from firms to complete the study. The study will look at the need for a second fire station as well as staffing, services and collaboration with other agencies.

“The worst fireground conditions we run into routinely will have air temperatures from 571 F to 2000 F and normally found during severe exposures like a flashover or backdraft,” said Spokane Fire Chief Brian Schaeffer. “Although the exposure to this firefighter was lower, the PPE provided a protection level so the employee can escape the situation with minimum harm. The intensity of these exposures generally causes damage to gear in a variety of ways.”  

Schaeffer explained that exposure to ordinary and emergency situations of fireground exposures affect PPE. For the most part, they do not show damage for routine levels of exposure.  All of the PPE outer shell fabrics are made of inherently flame-resistant fibers — Nomex, Kevlar, PBI, Basofil, etc. 

When fabrics made from these fibers are exposed to high heat, the first effect seen is loss of dye (the black color). If a fabric is dyed, the dye sublimes (it goes from a solid to a vapor) which makes the fabric revert to its natural color.