Sandusky firefighters request bulletproof vests

While Sandusky police have worn ballistic vests for years, the city's firefighters may soon add them to their list of equipment.

City commissioners plan to review a request Monday to purchase 24 ballistic vests for the fire department.

The city's police officers are also asking to replace their vests, which they do every five years.

The firefighters' vests would cost about $180 each for a total cost of about $16,326, while the police department's 32 vests would cost about $670 each, or $21,422 total.

The fire department's revenue from ambulance transport fees would pay for the 24 vests. The city could save money, meanwhile, by purchasing all 56 vests from D&G Uniform of Akron, city officials said.

Firefighters would wear the vests when responding to calls where they could face the threat of gunfire, fire Chief Paul Ricci said.

"We come into some pretty supercharged environments," Ricci said. "Our advantage there is through our training, to try to handle the situations we find ourselves in."

The fire department's health and safety committee started looking into purchasing the vests two years ago and recently revisited the idea as part of the committee's strategic plan for the next three years.

The committee has laid out four goals to better prepare the city's firefighters when they're acting as paramedics and emergency medical technicians on squad calls.

If commissioners approve the vest purchases, it would take care of one of the four goals.

Unlike police officers' vests, which are worn under a uniform, firefighters' vests are worn on top of the uniform. The vests would be stored in ambulances as part of the standard set of protective equipment, Ricci said.

The three remaining goals for responding to threatening incidents:

* Create a system for setting up an aggressive staging policy in which firefighters are trained to stage two or three blocks from a potentially violent call. They could then wait there until police secure the scene.

* Train the city's 54 firefighters to identify the types of risk common to police, but not as common to firefighters.

* Create guidelines for entering violent situations, such as domestic disputes or incidents involving a knife or firearm.

The health and safety committee found that fire departments in Canton, Ashland and Toledo have carried ballistic vests on their ambulances for several years, Ricci said.

"Obviously you don't want to be in that situation, but it does occur," he said. "We live and work in a very safe community. Unfortunately, police officers and firefighters get into an environment that could be hostile. That's just part of our job and what we're tasked to do."

A few of the other issues city commissioners plan to review at Monday's meeting:

* Expense adjustments, including additional costs in the city manager search and hiring police reserves;

* A proposal to let city residents gain ownership of lots next to their properties if they've been mowing the land;

* A proposal to acquire tax-delinquent properties at 309 Reese St., 306 W. Monroe St. and 1631 Campbell St.;

* A request for a $14,000 change order at the wastewater treatment plant;

* A request to submit a grant application to the Clean Ohio Revitalization fund for the former Apex Manufacturing property.