In a move that’s been long awaited by many in the local firehouse, the City of Dowagiac plans on purchasing new sets of essential protective gear for the community’s bravest.

Dowagiac Public Safety received word earlier this month that it would receive partial funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development Program for the purchase of new personal protective equipment (PPE) for the 16 firefighters employed at the station. The federal department will give the city $14,275 to purchase new pants, coats, helmets, boot, gloves and hoods, covering about 55 percent of the total project cost, said Director of Public Safety Steve Grinnewald.

The department initially applied for the funding in June of last year, though Grinnewald and others with the city have been seeking grant money for new protective gear for the past several years. Many of the jackets and other gear currently used by the city’s firefighters are between 8 and 10 years old, either exceeding or coming close to their recommended life expectancy, Grinnewald said.

“[The crews] are very excited,” Grinnewald said. “They’ve been waiting a long time, maybe a little too long, for this to happen.”

The city will cover the remaining funds for the project. They already purchased six sets of protective gear, which cost around $1,850 a piece, to replace some of the station’s oldest equipment last fall.

Along with the gear, the city will use some of the grant funds to purchase an extractor washer, a machine designed to properly cleanse the protective wear of smoke, soot and other damages incurred on the field. With proper cleaning and caring for the equipment, the station can expect to extend them past their recommended lifetime of 10 years, Grinnewald said.

“We wash them now, but if we throw them in a regular washer, it just tears the washer up, since the equipment is so heavy,” he said.

Public Safety has received grant money from the USDA in the past, purchasing a new vehicle several years ago with their funds, Grinnewald said. The department and the city have spent the last several years aggressively pursuing grants from federal and state agencies for the purpose of upgrading existing public safety assets.

“We’ll do anything we can to get [crews] the equipment they need to do their jobs to the best of their abilities,” Grinnewald said.

The new gear is expected to arrive at the station in the next four to six weeks, Grinnewald said.