WARSAW — Warsaw-Wayne Fire Chief Michael Wilson presented one of the new personal protection vests during the fire territory board meeting held yesterday, Dec. 5.

The fire department has purchased 34 protection vests, one for each of the firefighters. Firefighters will wear these protective, bulletproof vests over their normal gear during every response. Over $30,000 was spent on the vests to ensure the safety of each firefighter.

“The day and age of needing these is getting there,” said Wilson. “These guys have realized the city does care and it was a very good move for them.”

Wilson noted that at first some of the firefighters were apprehensive about wearing them. But due to some recent violent calls and frequent number of overdoses, the firefighters are now more comfortable with the vests. Each vest clearly states “RESCUE” on the front so that the firefighters will not be confused with police officers on scene.

The vests have an average lifetime of five years. The hope is to get a replacement rotation set in place like the local police departments have so that not all 34 vests have to be replaced at once.

In other news:

• The board reviewed and approved all September reports due to not having a meeting last month.
• A Mosaic payment for the new fire station was presented to the board for review and approved. In the future, the hope is that the payments can be reviewed by the territory board before it goes to the Warsaw Board of Works meeting.
• Two grants were accepted for the heavy rescue extrication equipment. This equipment was previously approved for purchase and has already started to arrive.
• The board approved two new service agreements with Emergency Reporting for a new EMS Module and CAD link. These will help with on-scene reporting.
• The Warsaw Volunteer Fire Department 2018 Agreement was approved contingent on approval by the volunteer firefighters.
• The next meeting was delayed until 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 9.