Air Products Corporation has donated three gas detectors and their related components to the Nesquehoning Fire Department.

The value of the donation is over $3,000, said Gene Kennedy, a supervisor at the Hometown Plant of Air Products and a member of the Emergency Regional Team of the firm.Kennedy said the items donated to the fire department are the same type used at the Hometown plant. Joe Starosta, lieutenant and vice president of the Nesquehoning Fire Department, said the detectors will test levels of chlorine, hydrogen cyanide and multiple gases.He said the department already has carbon monoxide detecting equipment.Starosta said the items donated by Air Products is important to the department.As an example, he said the testing for hydrogen cyanide occurs during overhaul procedures following a fire. Hydrogen cyanide is emitted when plastics, foam or other synthetic materials burn.The donations occurred at the Nesquehoning Fire Company along Route 209 on Thursday. Also present were Joe Folk, who is a member of the Emergency Regional Team of Air Products and also serves as the assistant chief of the New Columbus Fire Company.Shawn McArdle, captain of Nesquehoning Fire Department, also was present and thanked Air Products for the donation.Kennedy said, "Here at Air Products, safety is our number one priority. But our concern for safety just doesn't stop with our employees and our operations. We like to do whatever we can to make our communities safer places to live."That's why we are proud to be here to support the fire departments in Nesquehoning and the communities they serve."