The Team

Fire‑Dex and Los Angeles County Fire Department came together with a single goal in mind: to design turnout gear that delivers a new level of breathability, built to meet the evolving needs of today’s firefighters.

“It’s important that you trust the gear that you’re putting on when you go out to work. Because you’re trusting in your organization to provide the best PPE possible for you,” says LA County Chief Chad Christensen.

Breathability

There were two main problems that the team decided to face head-on. The first was breathability. “We set out to make the most breathable set of turnouts in the world” says Sean Bilovecky, senior Product Designer with Fire-Dex. “From the beginning we thought about ventilation and ‘how do we get the hot air from the body, outside of the garment, not just move it around, but how do we get it out of the garment, which has never been done before.’”

Firefighters need to work hard when the bell goes off, but heat stress can hold you back. Research shows that heat stress is the number one cause of LODDs, but when it comes to turnouts, the standard of breathability can be insufficient at best. While turnouts of the past were focused on protection from external burns, they neglected the kind of stress that can cause strain from the inside.

After brainstorming new methods of enhancing the breathability of the garment, the team had an idea: If hot air and vapors are being trapped inside the turnout, can we find a way to vent them out? So, product development got to work, exploring the concept of adding a series of vents in high-heat areas, later coined AeroVent Technology, into the garment.

However, new technology can be scary, as LA Firefighter Brien Hager admits, “Wearing Fire-Dex and then hearing that, oh, there’s vents in it, I was initially like, ‘Okay there’s no way it’s a vent.’ How do you vent something out but then also not bring something back in?”

That question drove rigorous testing. Working alongside LA County, Bilovecky and the Fire-Dex team used body mapping to pinpoint where heat builds most, like the armpits and inner thighs. The vents were engineered with overlapping panels that act like bellows, pushing heat out with movement while preventing heat, pressure, and carcinogens from re-entering.

“What I tell people when they’re skeptical about the vented system in the AeroFlex garment is: our folks love the gear. It fits well; it breathes well,” says LA Chief Christensen. “Those panels are going to protect you without a doubt, even in the worst moments.”

And after experiencing the AeroFlex difference, the firefighters back him up.

“The vents have actually been a huge benefit to all of us on the floor,” he says, highlighting how quickly they became a valued part of the gear. Firefighter Caleb Souders echoes that sentiment, reinforcing that the results are real, not just engineered. “I’m a firm believer that the vents actually work,” he says. “They do make a difference—I can say that from firsthand experience.”

With LA County, Fire-Dex proved that there were more effective options for breathability. But we didn’t stop there.

Functionality

As if tackling breathability wasn’t difficult enough, there was more that needed changing. Our second objective was to improve the overall functionality of turnout gear.

“The goal was to get a garment that almost felt like you weren’t wearing it,” says Bilovecky.

Properly fitting turnouts are about more than comfort. They are about saving firefighters’ lives. Ill-fitting turnouts can restrict body motion on the fireground, meaning that you may not be able to do what is necessary for your (or a victim’s) survival. Not only that, but restrictive clothing slows you down, and Fire-Dex believes that your focus on the fireground should not be your turnouts.

As you can see, these solutions were not made arbitrarily, or simply for the sake of trying something new. Real progress comes from understanding what safety really means. And this new understanding of safety was accompanied by rigorous testing.

“The testing process for AeroFlex was quite enjoyable really. Any time we would get a new sample or something to try out, we had this great ability to evaluate it in live fire conditions,” says Chief Christensen.

And the garment started making a difference for LA County’s crew right off the bat. Firefighters began noticing the difference as soon as they put the gear into service—less fatigue, less heat buildup, and more time to stay effective on the fireground. As firefighter Evan Dobias puts it, “after testing it out, I've noticed that I don’t get as fatigued as I used to. I’m not feeling the temperatures that I would normally feel as quickly.”

That performance shows up in the small moments, too. Firefighter Natalie Nardone notes “I’m actually able to put on my gear much quicker. I’ve shaved off seconds by doing absolutely nothing. It’s just the new equipment is able to get over my specific body style much smoother.” And once they’re in motion, that improved mobility matters. “You’re able to move your shoulders a little bit more,” says Steve Mann. “It gives you that extra minute before you're just completely done. Sometimes that minute is everything.”

Working with LA County allowed Fire-Dex to better understand firefighters’ needs and provide solutions to those specific problems. “The relationship with Fire-Dex has been amazing,” says Chief Christensen. “Collectively, we were able to give our ideas, and they were able to make the most breathable garment in the industry with that AeroFlex garment.”

“What made LA County so special in the development of AeroFlex is their experience with a broad amount of firefighters in a region that has a lot of different climates. They have a high call volume, and they ask questions that are outside of the box,” says Bilovecky. LA County brought their visions and ideas to the table and Fire-Dex worked hard to make them a reality.

“No other manufacturers have really wanted to take that challenge on,” says Derrick Chapman, Deputy Fire Chief of LA County. “But the design team at Fire-Dex welcomed the challenge, and not only welcomed the challenge, but met the expectation.” And Fire-Dex is grateful to LA County for their honesty, creativity, and collaborative spirit.

That shared commitment drove a clear goal from the start. As Fire-Dex CEO Lauren Burke-DeVere explains, “we wanted to create the lightest, most breathable garment on the market and LA County helped us achieve that goal.”

Not only did we create the most innovative turnouts on the market, but we did it in a way that directly responds to firefighters’ needs, so they can forget about restrictive and suffocatingly airtight garments and get back to protecting their communities.

Eleni Pappas, Deputy Fire Chief at LA County, gives AeroFlex a resounding vote of confidence. “When the bell goes off, they’re going to be fully encapsulated, they’re going to be well-protected, any they’re not going to worry about themselves physically because they know that their gear will protect them.”

Battalion Chief Chad Christensen echoes Pappas, saying, “The amount of effort that the Los Angeles County Fire Department has put into evaluating materials, evaluating gear, collaborating with Fire-Dex to develop the AeroFlex garment, our members should feel very, very confident that they’re wearing the best turnout gear in the entire country, day in and day out.”

Together, Fire-Dex and LA County Fire changed the future of turnouts by choosing to prioritize firefighter needs, rather than sheltering ourselves under the status quo. And we’ll never know just how many lives these changes will save.

But we do know that by working together we can discover new solutions and find unparalleled success on the fireground.