Walla Walla Union-Bulletin
WALLA WALLA, Wash. — After protecting firefighters for years, a load of old turnouts has been put back into service thanks to inmates at the Washington State Penitentiary.
The turnouts — fire-resistant coats and pants — have been recycled into storage bags for firefighters’ breathing masks, rope bags and even teddy bears by workers at the prison’s Sustainable Practices Lab.
The recycling effort is also saving taxpayers a tidy sum, city officials say.
Although the heavy, canvas-like cloth the coats and pants are made of does not appear threadbare, safety regulations require the gear to be replaced after so many hours of use.
But, said Walla Walla Fire Department Lt. Bo Pingree, “I didn’t want to throw it in the garbage, and I wondered what I could do to give something back to the line guys.”
Pingree came up with the idea to take the material to longtime friend Chris McGill, a penitentiary employee who works with about 140 skilled inmates at the Sustainable Practices Lab.
Pingree visited the inmates at the facility and told them what was needed and the lab workers then produced prototypes.
After Pingree “made a couple of tweaks” to the design, the gear went into production.
In addition to the bags, the workers in the lab’s teddy bear shop also used the turnout material to create stuffed toys that firefighters, paramedics and EMTs can give to children during ambulance rides.
The collaboration has resulted in reduced waste from the fire department as well as significant cost savings.
Rope bags can cost $75 to $150 apiece and mask bags cost $50 apiece.
Pingree said he placed an initial order with the lab for 50 mask bags and that order alone saved the city of Walla Walla $2,500. The only things the fire department had to buy were a few spools of thread and some Velcro.
Pingree said this is only the start. The old turnouts could be used to make many other equipment bags for specialized gear, and in the future the lab will take the fire department’s old, blue shirts and turn them into quilts.
McGill said the fire department gear joins a variety of items made at the lab from material donated by local businesses.
The lab workers already refurbish and restore furniture, bicycles and office equipment. They manufacture other items to use in the prison or to donate to nonprofit organizations.
“For these guys to give back to a society they can’t be a part of, that’s a big deal for them,” McGill said.
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