Lawrence Township’s first responders – firefighters, police officers and emergency medical technicians – will receive new equipment following the Township Council’s adoption of an ordinance appropriating $850,000 from the municipality’s capital improvement fund.
Firefighter coats and pants, rescue tools, thermal imaging cameras that detect heat generated by flames hidden behind a wall or ceiling, and carbon monoxide detectors are among the items that will be purchased with money from the capital improvement fund.
Several sets of self-contained breathing apparatus bottles, airpacks and face pieces (masks) will be purchased for the Slackwood, Lawrence Road and Lawrenceville volunteer fire companies.
The ordinance earmarks money to buy automated external defibrillators for use with victims experiencing a cardiac emergency, and a new van-style ambulance for the Lawrence Township Emergency Medical Service.
An assortment of communications equipment, which includes pagers for Lawrence Road Fire Co. volunteers and for emergency management personnel, will be purchased. Portable radios for emergency medical technicians also will be purchased.
The police department is in line to get computer upgrades, including software, hardware and licenses, plus high definition surveillance cameras for the police and municipal court building and for the municipal building, which is across the parking lot.
Fencing will be installed at the Lawrence Township Community Garden on Route 206, and water line improvements also are on tap to be installed at the community garden. Barbeque grills will be purchased for the township’s parks.
A new Ford Escape sport utility vehicle and a heavy-duty truck, complete with snowplow, salt spreader and other snow removal equipment, will be purchased with money from the capital improvement fund.