Air Supply Unit

Because of the toxic smoke in a burning building, firefighters wear breathing air packs called self contained breathing apparatus (SCBA), similar to divers' SCUBA tanks. The SCBA air packs are also used at hazardous material incidents to protect them from hazardous atmospheres. Unfortunately, the standard tanks are only capable of carrying 30 minutes of air, this time is drastically reduced during strenuous work. All fire department engine and ladder companies carry spare bottles, but in multiple alarm fires or hazardous material incidents the air in the tanks and spare bottles are used up quickly. A supplemental supply of breathing air is needed at these large incidents, which is the role of the Air Supply Unit.