The Brownsburg Fire Territory added 30 ballistic vests and helmets to its equipment line-up in recent months.
The equipment purchase wasn’t sparked by any one event. However, Public Information Officer Danny Brock says last year’s riots in downtown Indianapolis and the mass shooting at a FedEx facility earlier this year got the conversation going.
“We have to know that that’s a possibility and you have to expect the unexpected and that’s the case on any call we go on,” Brock said.
Brock says the departments is often times responding to domestic violence incidents or situations that involve a person’s mental health where things could be dangerous for firefighters and paramedics.
“There’s no way to be 100% safe, but we want to give people the chance to be as safe as they can,” Brock said.