Port Angeles – Fighting fires is about to get a little safer for Clallam 2 Fire Rescue thanks to a sizable grant from FEMA. The $311,000 grant will be used to buy 46 brand new, state-of-the-art self-contained breathing apparatus air packs, or SCBA’s .

Total cost of the new equipment is $326,000, but the Fire District only has to contribute 5% of that. Deputy Chief Jake Patterson says the timing of the grant couldn’t be better.

Besides being a much safer breathing apparatus, Patterson says the new models will also be a big upgrade in terms communicating to one another.

Patterson says the new SCBA units should serve the District for the next 10+ years.