T-L Photo/ROBERT A. DEFRANK Cumberland Trail Fire District Assistant Chief Dan Grady demonstrates Wednesday the use of a mobile air tank the firefighters use on the job. The Belmont County Board of Commissioners is upgrading the three air compressor stations around the county.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — County fire departments should be breathing a little easier while on call after an equipment upgrade.

On Wednesday, the Belmont County Board of Commissioners approved replacing three fixed air tank filling stations to be located at the Bellaire, Bethesda and Cumberland Trail fire stations.

The estimated cost is about $60,000 for each compressor, and because the cost is more than $50,000 the equipment must be bid out.

“Until the bids come in, we won’t know,” Commissioner Jerry Echemann said of the total cost.

These are the only air compressor stations in the county and all fire departments use them to refill their tanks.

“I’d like to express my appreciation on behalf of the fire district,” Cumberland Trail Fire Chief Tim Hall said. “Recognizing not only that this equipment is vital to not only our operations, but fire suppression and fire departments throughout all of Belmont County.”

Hall said the original air compressors were purchased 26 years ago.

“The costs of maintenance and repair have exceeded the value of the parent compressors. These repairs equate to the machines being out of service, at times for extended periods due to inability to (acquire) parts, and this was prior to the pandemic,” Hall said.

He and Assistant Chief Dan Grady demonstrated the use of a self-contained breathing apparatus, which feeds air from the 40-pound tank to a firefighter on duty in a dangerous location.

“These compressors are strategically placed throughout the county … therefore allowing riverfront, central and western fire departments quick access to refill these bottles in case of an additional incident, and to put their equipment back in service,” Hall said. “I look forward to working with you further on additional things.”

In answer to a question from Echemann, four tanks are in each fire truck and two in each ambulance.

“We have throughout the day about 11 people on duty,” Hall said. “We can drop to a minimum of seven. Normally a firefighter’s going to go through two bottles. We’ve been trying to improve (decontamination) because of all the carcinogens (encountered) in the fire service and statistics are going through the roof, but this is item No. 2.”

“I appreciate the work that you guys have done on this,” Commissioner Josh Meyer said.

Pease Township Trustee Michael Bianconi, who had served as a county commissioner, said firefighters in his hometown of Wolfhurst often filled their air tanks at the Cumberland Trail site.

“I was on the board 25 years ago when you first bought those. They’re a very good thing,” he said. “It’s a very good thing. It’s like a lot of things that no one knows about if you don’t pay attention to where your tax dollars are going.”