By Tom Embrey

Senior Writer

When budgets are tight, new equipment for fire departments can sometimes be hard to come by.

The newest batch of equipment at the Pinehurst and Southern Pines fire departments came thanks to a phone call.

"I got a phone call one day from Mr. (John) Carre," said Pinehurst Fire Chief Carlton Cole. "We started talking, and now we've got this new equipment."

Carre, a Moore County resident, works on behalf of Firefighters Support Services (FFSS), a nonprofit group based in Michigan that specializes in providing fire departments with life-saving locator devices that can pinpoint the exact location of a downed or lost firefighter in emergency situations.

Matthew Cahillane, FFSS president, and Carre both presented the Pinehurst and Southern Pines fire departments with 16 locaters and four hand-held locator screens and four chargers to each department.

Carre said he is hopeful that a similar donation can be made to the Aberdeen Fire Department by the end of August.

The locators are small, pager-like devices that hook onto the firefighters' self-contained breathing apparatus,or SCBA. The device turns on when the breathing apparatus is activated.

The locator screens are like hand-held Geiger counters or metal detectors that can help pinpoint the location of each firefighter wearing the device.

"It's a sonar device that will let you know where the firefighter is at all times when they are battling fires," said Carre, who is treasurer of FFSS. "When you point the locator screen in the direction of the firefighter, you get a series of beeps."

The beeps get stronger and louder as the finder gets closer to the locator device.

"These are very good devices that give our firefighters an added safety feature," Cole said. "On larger fires, if we ever have a man down or need to locate a lost man, we will be able to find them."

The cost of the equipment is estimated at nearly $10,000, Carre said.

"These are high-tech locators, and the good thing is these devices will help protect the firefighters who take care of this community," he said.

Both departments said they will start using the devices as soon as all their members have been trained.

Contact Tom Embrey at tembrey@thepilot.com.