Like any fire chief, Assistant Chief Robert Grady of the Gary, Indiana fire department is concerned with the safety of his firefighters. He says that his first job is “taking care of the guys before they get into the fire, making sure that they have the equipment that they need to perform their job and to be able to perform their job safely.”
So when it came time to purchase new PPE, safety was the first thing on his mind. He worked with Fire-Dex and ultimately chose AeroFlex turnout gear for his firefighters. From decision to unboxing, he says Fire-Dex has helped meet his department’s needs for better, safer PPE.
Chief Grady’s journey to Fire-Dex began with his interest in a non-fluorinated moisture barrier. He says he knew he wanted to go with that option but he still had concerns about their breathability.
He wasn’t willing to sacrifice breathability, knowing the inherent danger of heat stress. “I said, if they're going hold heat, then I want something that's going to get that heat off guys faster.”
Chief Grady knew that reduced breathability can lead to overheating, slower recovery, and increased risk of overexertion, especially for older firefighters. He emphasizes, "Heart attacks and overexertion are the things that are killing firefighters. If I can help prevent that part of it from happening, I'm doing my job."
He also understands that the fire service constantly evolves. "It's all the different materials that are burning today and all the different materials that are coming out. Today, tomorrow, and forever, it's going to change." To meet those challenges, he still needed PPE that not only breathed well but also stood up to the rigorous challenges of the modern fireground.
After a period of evaluation, Chief Grady found a fit for his PPE needs: AeroFlex turnouts from Fire-Dex.
The cooling in AeroFlex is provided by patent-pending AeroVent Technology. These vents are placed in key areas in the armpits and groin areas where heat naturally builds up. The AeroVents allow hot air to move from inside turnouts to the outside. Crucially, the vents are placed through all three layers of turnout gear. That means any composite, even those with non-fluorinated moisture barriers, are more breathable.
He says the decision to choose AeroFlex was easy. When making the argument for the gear, the question was simply about safety. He was told “If that's what you think we need to go with and it's gonna be better for the guys, let's do it."
But the conversation with Fire-Dex didn’t stop there. Chief Grady worked to design a spec of gear that matched his department’s needs. He says he wanted turnouts that let his firefighters feel heat faster.
“I told them the way we built the gear is I want you to feel it. I don't want like 46 TPP and these guys aren’t feeling it until they’re getting burned, when they start getting burned on their arms or their shoulders and elbows and knees. I want them to feel the heat sooner.”
Ultimately, he tells his firefighters: “You're going to feel the heat sooner, but you're going to get the heat off of you faster because of the heat release. That’s the way we build the gear."
It’s one thing to spec out a set of gear, it’s another to put the gear in the hands of real firefighters.
For Gary, Indiana firefighters, that process started with fitting. Fire-Dex used their AI-powered virtual sizer to make the fitting process a breeze. "When they size everybody, they do it with AI and not one set of that gear is wrong, everything is perfect. Everything. The guys can't believe it."
But fitting is only half the battle: if it’s not easy to move around in, all the breathability or innovative features in the world won’t make a difference. With AeroFlex, the Gary firefighters were impressed from the beginning.
“One of the things that we do when the guys get the gear is, obviously, go through all the motions,” says Chief Grady. “Try it out. Do the different motions, squat down, things like that. I always tell them ‘do you have any complaints with it right now?’ And they're like, ‘no.’ I noticed after I washed mine that the mobility in it at first was good, but then when it got washed and dried it got even better.” He says that other gear he’s worn that tries to be breathable ends up feeling heavy. But AeroFlex is the opposite: “it doesn’t feel heavy.”
The breathability of the gear also made a big impact on Chief Grady and the firefighters. “I used AeroFlex a couple times doing live fire training and I could see the difference in it as far as cooling off from one material to the next,” he says. “Then our guys get into it and a couple of our guys come up to me and say, ‘hey, I can tell the difference in the AeroFlex.’ Making that choice is a good move on our part."
Another key feature of the gear is its ability not only to protect from heat stress but also from the dangers of the fireground. The AeroVent Technology operates like a pressure valve, only allowing high pressure hot air inside the gear to move out—without letting heat and particulates from the fireground into the gear.
That translates to fireground safety. “We haven't had any heat-related injuries with it at all, nothing. Nothing as far as like overheating because of the gear or anything like that.”
Durability impresses the team. "We beat it up,” says Chief Grady. “It's taken the beating. It's pretty beat up and it closes like it's brand new. That’s a plus because [in other gear] the Velcro just didn't last."
He was also impressed with the construction. “One of the things that I had problems with bunker gear [in the past] was ankles coming apart. In between the inside ankles they would come apart. But I haven't had that issue at all.”
For any repairs needed after an incident, Chief Grady praises how quickly Fire-Dex and Gear Wash could service the gear. "Customer service is great. Customer service right away. They get it fixed right away. No complaint."
But regardless of how the gear performs, Chief Grady says he still has to provide education to help his firefighters feel more comfortable with such new technology. He says that sometimes firefighters “don't understand that until you show them, and then they get to use the equipment and see it for themselves. Now they understand it. It's just educating us. I was the same way. I was one of those guys. If I could wear hip boots with long coats my whole career I would have.”
But he says that his job as Chief is to keep his firefighters safe. “You just try to make it better every time you buy gear.”
For departments considering non-fluorinated moisture barriers, AeroFlex offers breathability without compromise, mobility and comfort, durability and reliability, and balanced weight. Chief Grady sums it up: "If you can protect your guys before they go into the fire, you’ve done your job."
His ultimate review of AeroFlex? “It just works. It does, it works.”