INGALLS — Ingalls Town Council voted recently to borrow $140,000 from its water department to pay for unexpected fire department expenses after an Indiana Occupational Safety and Health Administration (IOSHA) inspection revealed some equipment was outdated.

The majority of the funds will pay for oxygen tanks worn by firefighters when they are working inside a structure, town council president Chris Bradshaw said.

Until new tanks arrive, Ingalls firefighters will not be able to enter a building to fight a fire.

Bradshaw said he was notified at the end of last year that some fire equipment needed to be replaced.

He said fire chief Logan Caulk had received a complaint from IOSHA determining the department’s oxygen tanks had expired.

Bradshaw did not know the date of the inspection. Calls to Caulk were not returned by press time. Requests for documents made to IOSHA late last week were not returned by press time.

Neither Bradshaw nor town council member Georgia Parker knew specifically when the new tanks and other supplies would arrive, but said they would come before the next IOSHA inspection, which will keep the town from being issued a fine.

Until the equipment arrives, the Ingalls fire department will be able to work fires only from outside structures.

The department will depend on firefighters from other departments, such as those in Pendleton, Lapel or Fortville, when it’s necessary to enter a building.

“We haven’t had one in a long time, but we have to be prepared,” Parker said.

Parker said the new equipment has been selected, and once the funds are transferred the gear will be ordered.

Bradshaw said the town transferred the money from water department’s general fund to the department’s water surplus fund — instead of transferring the money to the town’s general fund — to give it more time to pay back the money.

“By doing that, we have seven years to pay it back,” Bradshaw said. “If we would have transferred the funds directly to the town, we would have had only one year to pay it back. This way, there will not be an increase in rate.”