"This donation is being used to provide much-needed equipment that will enable the Emmaus Fire Department to enhance the safety of our firefighters as we provide our services to the community," EFD Chief James Reiss told representatives from the Bethlehem office of the Fireman's Fund Insurance Co. at a symbolic check presentation last week.

The donation of more than $12,000 from the insurance company's Heritage program was used to purchase a variety of equipment that would not have been able to be obtained with the fire department's limited operating funds.

Three new Samsung Galaxy 2 10-inch electronic tablets will give the fire department additional capabilities, Reiss said.

Paired with a special computer application, the computer tablets, using wireless computer technology will allow the chief and the first two responding engines to see the location of the fire on a GPS Google maps projection, to see the most direct and shortest route to the location, where fire hydrants are located, their capacity and any obstructions, such as downed trees or other obstacles in an emergency situation such as encountered during Hurricane Sandy.

The computer program also allows pre-incident planning overlays, which will have 350 fire incident plans for 350 businesses in the borough.

"This allows us to know ahead of time about any special hazards that we need to be aware in an emergency situation," Reiss said.

Such things as electrical and alarm panels, hazardous materials and other information will be available and come up on any business address that we respond to. The tablets will also be able to communicate with each other so command decisions by the chief, who usually responds directly to the scene to assess the situation, can be made before the first units even arrive. Included in the purchase were three self-contained breathing apparatus masks in smaller sizes to accommodate different needs of firefighters. Masks available heretofore were one-size-fits all.

Three 45-minute cylinders and one 60-minute cylinder for the Interspiro masks were also purchased. Air cylinders have a limited life and are required to be replaced after 15 years.

"This will augment our current firefighter safety equipment," Reiss said.

Each qualified firefighter has their own personal face mask as part of their turnout gear.

An electronic carbon monoxide meter, a wide-spectrum fore-gas meter and five alert pagers were also included in the purchase.

The Fireman's Fund Insurance Company was founded in 1863 with a social mission to support the fire service. In 2004, the company renewed this commitment with the launch of its Heritage program. Since then, the Fireman's Fund has awarded more than $29 million in grants to more than 1,800 different fire departments across the United States.

The company has been heavily involved in the Firefighter's Relief Fund across the country for duty-related incidents.