Chelsea firefighters immediately put ballistic vests to use, say still not enough

CHELSEA, Mass. — Chelsea firefighters who responded to an active shooting scene Monday night had an additional piece of safety gear to protect themselves as they went to work.

Just this month, the department added ballistic (‘bulletproof’) vests to their trucks.

While it’s an important measure, some firefighters say it isn’t enough.

Firefighters had initially showed up to assist in a medical emergency, but quickly the call turned into a massive fire and they were on the front lines of an active shooter situation.

Boston 25 News was live on the air when the sound of gunshots could be heard coming from the home. Police were being shot at and, soon, firefighters were facing the same threat.

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“It’s not something that we do every day,” Chelsea Fire Chief Leonard Albanese said.

But Chief Albanese says it’s something his department now prepares for in light of active shooter incidents across the U.S. and around the world.

“We need to get medical workers in sooner, so by having ballistic protection and entering with the police -- under what’s called force protection -- we can control hemorrhage and rapidly extract them.,” Chief Albanese explained.

A state grant allowed the department to purchase 24 vests, outfitting their trucks with just enough for each firefighter on duty each shift.

There are also specialty response bags for shooting victims. They contain blood clotting gauze and tourniquets.

"We were in the hot zone last night,” Chelsea firefighter Anthony Salvucci told Boston 25 News Tuesday morning. “We need all of the equipment we need all of the training."

Salvucci is the president of the Chelsea firefighters’ union and says they welcome the extra 12 pounds of protection.

But the union is asking for more. They want Kevlar helmets and more training.

“We need to train more frequently and more adequately so we can better handle this situation in the future,” Salvucci said.

Additional safety equipment could be coming in the next fiscal year budget. Chelsea officials say they were leading the way on equipment with the special ballistic gear.

Cox Media Group