Lakeland Industries Opens Colorado PPE Facility for Firefighter Gear Cleaning, Repair and Training

Key Points

• Lakeland Industries has expanded its firefighter PPE-care network with the opening of Colorado PPE in Centennial, Colorado.
• The facility will provide cleaning, inspection, repair, rental protective gear, NFPA 1850 training, and station-cleaning equipment for fire departments.
• Colorado PPE operates as an independent service provider supported by the resources of Lakeland Fire + Safety.
• Lakeland said its PPE-cleaning process achieved average removal rates of 88% for volatile organic compounds and 89% for heavy metals in UL testing.
• The company said those results exceed the NFPA 1850 minimum benchmark of 50% removal for certain contaminants.

Lakeland Industries (NASDAQ: LAKE) has opened Colorado PPE, a new Centennial, Colorado facility designed to help fire departments clean, inspect, repair, rent, and manage firefighter personal protective equipment, or PPE. The new location expands Lakeland’s network of independent service providers and is intended to give Colorado fire departments access to comprehensive gear care and training in one place.

Colorado PPE Offers Firefighter Gear Care, Repair and Rental Services

Colorado PPE will provide services across the full life cycle of firefighter protective gear. The facility will clean, inspect, and repair PPE used by firefighters and emergency responders.

The company will also offer rental PPE for departments whose gear is temporarily out of service for cleaning or repairs. Rental equipment may also help departments meet short-term needs for training or other operational activities.

In addition, Colorado PPE plans to provide station-cleaning equipment, including extractors, to help departments manage PPE cleaning programs within their own facilities.

New Facility Will Provide NFPA 1850 Training for Fire Departments

Colorado PPE will offer training related to NFPA 1850, the National Fire Protection Association standard covering the selection, inspection, cleaning, maintenance, repair, retirement, and management of protective clothing and equipment used by firefighters and emergency responders.

The standard sets a minimum performance benchmark for removing contaminants from protective gear. Under NFPA 1850, PPE cleaning processes must remove at least 50% of heavy metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs, and volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, from contaminated gear.

Colorado PPE said its approach is designed to help departments understand how to build and manage PPE-care programs that fit their individual staffing, resource, and operational needs.

Lakeland Says UL Testing Shows Cleaning Results Above NFPA Benchmarks

Lakeland said third-party testing by UL found that its cleaning process removed an average of 88% of VOCs and 89% of heavy metals from contaminated firefighter PPE.

Those reported results are above the 50% minimum removal benchmark described under NFPA 1850 for VOCs and heavy metals. Lakeland said the performance reflects its goal of providing firefighter gear care that goes beyond basic compliance requirements.

Colorado PPE Combines Local Service With Lakeland Fire + Safety Resources

Colorado PPE will operate as an independent service provider while using Lakeland Fire + Safety’s broader resources and capabilities. The company said this approach is intended to offer departments a more personal, responsive service relationship while providing access to larger-scale PPE-care, rental, and training support.

Colorado PPE Operations Manager Misty Johnson said the facility will work with individual departments to understand their needs and create PPE-care programs suited to their specific circumstances.

New Facility Expands Lakeland’s Support for Colorado Fire Departments

Lakeland said the Centennial facility is focused on supporting the Colorado fire community by helping departments keep protective gear in serviceable condition.

The company’s new Colorado location adds another service point for firefighter PPE management, bringing together gear cleaning, contamination removal, inspection, repair, rental equipment, NFPA 1850 training, and station-cleaning support under one roof.