Hypothetical Situation:  A firefighter is issued turnout pants that are less than 1 year old and have been worn only a few times.  The pants are much too long, thus the firefighter is constantly walking on the bottom of the pants which wear through so that the bottom seam of the pants hook under and in front of the heel of his boots.  The problem was pointed out to the Chief who says "Oh well, there is no money to get them fixed."

Question 1:  Should the firefighter be permitted to continue wearing the pants?

Question 2:  Does the condition of the pants constitute a safety hazard?

Question 3:  Does the worn through bottoms of the legs seriously reduce the protection the pants are supposed to provide?

Question 4:  Would a local repair, with stong, but not necessarily "fire proof" thread be preferable to doing nothing?

Question 5:  Would a local repair (Question 4) create a liability situation?

Question 6:  Does letting the firefighter continue wearing the pants "as is" create a liability situation?

Any thoughts, suggestions, recommendations would be greatly appreciated.