Jim Brock / The Meridian StarLauderdale County Fire Coordinator Allan Dover stands over 85 new self-contained breathing apparatus units, which cost about $500,000. “It’s going to increase our effectiveness to be able to do our jobs."

Half a million dollars is a lot of money.

But you can’t put a price tag on safety, especially when the lives of firefighters and those they protect are on the line.

Lauderdale County recently approved the purchase of 85 self-contained breathing apparatus units for Lauderdale County Fire Service’s 16 volunteer fire departments. 

About 20 of the SCBAs have thermal imaging cameras installed.

“We were coming to a point to where the chances of an injury were greatly enhanced because of the age of the units,” Lauderdale County Fire Coordinator Allan Dover said. “It’s going to increase our effectiveness to be able to do our jobs…The self-contained breathing apparatus we’re using ranged in age from 14 to 17 years of age — some have been in multiple fires and repaired. Fifteen years is the service life.”

With temperatures ranging from 700 to 1,000 degrees in some fires, up-to-date equipment is important. The SCBAs will allow firefighters more exposure time before another crew relieves them. 

There are about 300 volunteer firefighters who will have access to the new equipment, Dover said.

LCFS currently has 79 pieces of apparatus, 22 of which are primary response trucks — class A engines.

“Our most precious commodity in the fire service is our firefighters,” Dover said. “That’s not something that can be easily replaced —  in my opinion none of them can be replaced.”