Technology Report

September 23, 2026

MSA G1 City Edition SCBA

A firefighter seen from behind wearing an MSA breathing apparatus and air cylinder, holding a handheld LUNAR device with a thermal display toward a fire
Photo: MSA Safety via PR Newswire

When a firefighter goes down inside a burning building, the people sent in after them have to find them in smoke and darkness, often with little more than a radio call and a last-known position. On September 23, 2026, MSA Safety launched a breathing apparatus designed to make the firefighter easier to find: the G1 City Edition SCBA, which builds a locator beacon directly into the air pack.

SCBA stands for self-contained breathing apparatus, the air cylinder, regulator and face mask firefighters wear on their backs to breathe in smoke. MSA’s G1 SCBA has electronics powered by a single rechargeable battery in what the company calls the power module. In the City Edition, MSA puts its LUNAR Beacon technology inside that module. LUNAR is MSA’s handheld situational-awareness device, which combines a thermal camera, search-and-rescue functions and data connectivity. According to MSA, a firefighter carrying a LUNAR can now search for and locate anyone wearing a G1 City Edition SCBA, so the pack a firefighter already wears doubles as the thing rescuers home in on.

The search works through what MSA calls FAST, for Firefighter Assist Search Technology, a proprietary network that gives simplified directional information toward a firefighter in alarm status. Paired with the SCBA, the company says, the LUNAR can also show the pack’s air pressure and share alarm status and location through MSA’s FireGrid Monitor application, giving incident commanders real-time visibility when data or radio connectivity is available.

“Firefighters tell us that accountability and the ability to locate personnel quickly during emergency situations are among their highest priorities,” said Steve Blanco, MSA’s president and chief executive.

MSA also says the City Edition is lighter than the previous G1. It says a new cylinder retention system is more than 10 percent lighter than the standard G1 retention band and that a standard low-profile swiveling lumbar pad saves up to half a pound. Other changes, which MSA attributes to years of firefighter feedback, include thicker regulator and cylinder-valve controls for gloved hands, longer pull straps, a facepiece harness for smoother one-handed donning, and a display that continuously shows cylinder pressure and estimated time remaining. The company says the pack meets the 2025 edition of NFPA 1970, the consolidated US standard for structural and proximity firefighting gear. The release does not give a price, range for the beacon, or how quickly a LUNAR can locate a downed firefighter.