Deputy Fire Chief Thomas Bartlett has seen a lot of changes in stationwear in his 30-year career. One of the first paid firefighters of Fayette County (Ga.) Fire and Emergency Services, he recalls his department’s polyester-blend stationwear when he first started in the early ‘80s. Then, a few years later, his department transitioned to a poly-cotton blend.

“At that time, when we didn’t have the luxury of having a fleet or building maintenance department, we had to do our maintenance on the trucks, as well as minor construction jobs in the station,” Bartlett said. “[The blend] was hot and uncomfortable to work in.

Bartlett wanted to meet NFPA 1975 recommendations for station wear and wrote an Assistance to Firefighters grant in hopes of buying new gear. The grant, which was awarded a few years ago, let his entire department finally upgrade to Workrite’s Nomex station wear, a line of flame resistant (FR) every day work uniforms specifically built for fire service personnel.

Sidebar: Scope of NFPA 1975, Station/Work Uniforms for Emergency Services

In the grant proposal, Bartlett specifically addressed the safety of personnel, which is “No. 1,” he said. In fact, he pitched in the grant the importance of meeting NFPA 1975, written for garments that provide primary protection for specific hazards to which firefighters can be exposed to while participating in emergency operations or training. However, station/work uniforms that are certified as compliant only with NFPA 1975 are not primary protective garments and cannot be relied on to provide protection from specific hazards — such as those encountered during structural or wildland firefighting, according to the standard.

“Obviously, the station wear we were using did not meet NFPA. Stationwear is the last line of defense should the outer layer — the turnout gear — fail for some reason,” he said. “The stationwear would be the last line of defense to prevent a burn or serious injury to the personnel.”

Bartlett won the FIRE grant and used the funding to purchase Workrite’s Nomex flame-resistant stationwear.

Specifically, Workrite’s fire-service stationwear features a meta-aramid material first developed by DuPont. The fabric is made of a DFR flame-proof blend that doesn’t burn or melt like polyester or poly-cotton blends, said Mark Saner, the company’s technical manager. Saner said the fabric also is made up of 5% of Kevlar, used for bulletproof vests, “which adds to the durability of the fabric.”

Indeed, Saner said its stationwear adds an additional layer of protection because, when layered under turnout gear, it acts like an insurance policy. In fact, in the unlikely event of a flash fire, electric arc, metal splash or other catastrophe, FR work clothing reduces burn injury, provides escape time, and increases chances of survival, he said.

“If your turnout gear gets torn or ripped somehow you do have an extra layer of protection under there,” Saner said.