On July 25, 2023, Cypress Pointe Fire/Rescue was notified by U.S. Homeland Security, FEMA that we had been awarded an Assistance to Firefighters Grant.

The grant was to replace 37 of our Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA). The grant funding is split between FEMA and the Fire Department on a 95% FEMA and 5% Department ratio. FEMA provided a total of $326,657.14 and the fire department total was $16,332.86.

SCBA provide breathing air for firefighters and are routinely used for calls that produce smoke, odors, chemicals or other Immediately Dangerous to Life and Health (IDLH) environments. The SCBA allows firefighters to work in dangerous atmospheres and continue to breath from 20 to 30 minutes depending on workload.

After being awarded the FEMA Grant in July, Fire Chief Mike Cameron formed an SCBA Research Committee to evaluate SCBA comfort, wearability, technology, integration to existing equipment, warranty and support after the purchase. The committee unanimously choose manufacture MSA's G1 SCBA sold by Newtons Fire & Safety Equipment. The equipment was ordered in August 2023 and was delivered by Newtons in mid- February.

Since the delivery of the new SCBA all members have attended classroom training on the new equipment, a hands-on session, each member has completed SCBA Skills Review, and each member has completed the required Fit Testing to ensure that the SCBA Face Mask fits correctly.

The new SCBA were placed in service on Tuesday, March 5th on all fire apparatus.