When Lackawanna hired Jason Szpara and eight others to be firefighters in 2014, the cash-strapped city issued them old used breathing masks that had been turned in by retirees.
The safety equipment was tattered, Szpara recalled.
Now, on occasion, when there's a large fire in Lackawanna, there aren't enough self contained breathing apparatus – the masks and related equipment – to equip every firefighter, Lackawanna Fire Chief Ralph Galanti admitted. “In the last few years, we’ve gone on larger scale fires that we haven’t had enough for everyone we called in," Galanti said. "We did not have enough complete SCBAs."
The issue came to a head following the massive fire at the former Bethlehem steel plant in November, which burned for four days. Firefighters needed not only breathing masks, but additional equipment to keep from inhaling plumes of toxic smoke. Buffalo firefighters loaned Lackawanna firefighters some breathing equipment at the scene.