Fort Oglethorpe officials have authorized the purchase of new fire protection gear.

Fort Oglethorpe City Council, during a regular meeting at City Hall on April 8, voted 4-1 to accept Bennett Fire Products’ bid of $16,110 for new firefighters’ gear, including helmets, bunker pants, turn out coats and boots.

The council also approved a $12,340 purchase for new face gear and breathing apparatus equipment. Fort Oglethorpe Fire & Rescue asked the council to purchase the equipment.

“It wasn’t that I was against this; they can use the equipment,” said Councilman Alan Marshall, who voted against the purchases. “I think they needed to split it (the purchases) up and do half of it on this budget, and when we get to the point where we read just the budget in June or July, they could get the other half. I thought it was a pretty big lump sum for both purchases (at once).”

Marshall said he likes to see funds reserved for each department in case of emergencies.

“I was just trying to look out for their budget and for their best interests down the road,” he said.

Bennett Fire Products submitted the lowest bid of seven companies vying for the contract, Fire Chief Bruce Ballew said.

All of the new equipment would meet federal fire protection guidelines. He said the old equipment would likely be handed down to the department’s Explorers youth training program