During its annual Safety Forum in Scottsdale, Arizona, last month, the Fire Department Safety Officers Association (FDSOA) announced the Phoenix (AZ) Fire Department is an Official Regional Training and Certification Center for Incident Safety Officers within the Phoenix Regional Automatic Aid System.

Richard Maddox, Chairman, FDSOA, presented the Certificate of Approval to Brian Parks, safety officer for Phoenix Fire Department. [photo attached]  Maddox stated, “This award recognizes that Phoenix Fire Department has been certifying 50 individuals per year and plans to continue doing similar work in the future.”

This year was the first time the FDSOA Annual Safety Forum and the 28^th Annual Apparatus Specification and Maintenance Symposium were held concurrently and in Scottsdale. Next year, both the forum and the symposium will be held in Orlando, January 16-20, 2017.

“The first annual combined event was a great success,” said Maddox. “We had an extremely good turnout for both the Apparatus Symposium and the Safety Forum. The vendors were very enthusiastic about the quality of the attendees and the quality of time that they got to spend with them.”

This year, the IAFC’s Safety Health & Survival Section (IAFC SHS) partnered with the FDSOA to host the 2016 Safety Forum. After a meeting with both boards, the organizations agreed they will continue to work together to bring safety education to as many fire chiefs and safety officers across North America.

For more information regarding the FDSOA Safety Forum, contact: Rich Marinucci, Executive Director, Ph: 248.880.1864 or visit: www.fdsoa.org.

Baltimore Gas and Electric Company has awarded Howard County's West Friendship Volunteer Fire Department and Lisbon Volunteer Fire Company with a combined total of $10,000 in grant funding to enhance fire and rescue equipment at each station.

"Our volunteer partners are vital to keeping our communities safe," said Fire Chief John S. Butler, in a statement. "Working side by side with these members provides the best possible care and attention to our residents. These increased assets will serve to benefit all of Howard County."

The West Friendship department applied for fire suppression equipment and cold/warm water rescue apparatus through a grant request, said Maria Hogg, spokeswoman for the Howard County Department of Fire and Rescue.

"In addition to responding to the Patapsco River, Hogg said, the station also keeps an eye on roughly 275 lakes, ponds, and storm water management areas. By enhancing the fire suppression arsenal with Baltimore Gas and Electric Company's $5,000 grant, the station can improve capabilities to put out fires in these types of remote structures. Hogg said the equipment will also help the station in their response to community emergencies and ensure the safety of both the public and its personnel.

Another $5,000 will be going toward improvements at the Lisbon department, where volunteers are often called to vehicle rescues along major commuter roads, such as Interstate 70 and Routes 32 and 97.

For more information, view www.baltimoresun.com

St. Rita's Medical Center has donated $125,000 to fire and emergency medical service agencies in three northwest Ohio counties as part of its Community Investment Fund.

The funds, which were distributed Tuesday at an awards luncheon, will assist these agencies with the cost of replacing or upgrading heart-related EMS equipment. This equipment ranges from heart monitors and modems to automated external defibrillators and CPR devices.

"The departments applied based on their need and then were awarded on what they applied for," said Brian Anderson, EMS coordinator at St. Rita's.

A total of 12 agencies received funding, including the Lima Fire Department, Apollo Career Center, Putnam County EMS and Cridersville Fire and Rescue. Fire departments from Wapakoneta, Bath, Shawnee, American Township, Fort Jennings, Uniopolis, Beaverdam and Perry also benefited from the donation.

"It's a real pleasure that we were able to give some grant dollars to EMS to help them upgrade their equipment," said Mary Marker, administrator of St. Rita's Heart and Vascular Center.

Marker said upgrading cardiac-related equipment is vital in ensuring patients with heart problems are given the care they need in the shortest time possible.

"They need to have the equipment when they pick up the patient in order to help us do what we do here to get these patients taken care of in the correct amount of time," she said. "It gives our cardiologists and doctors more time to be able to work on the patient."

For more information, view limaohio.com

Augusta City councilors are poised to approve additional funding Thursday to build a fire station in north Augusta, which would keep the project moving toward completion in December, despite concerns about unstable clay soil and a permit issue relating to bats that could have delayed the project.

The timing is important because December is also the month the city's new, $1 million multipurpose "quint" fire ladder truck is scheduled to be arrive, and the new truck is too big and heavy to fit into any of the city's existing fire stations, officials said.

Funding of $3.6 million for the fire station and $1 million to buy the firetruck was approved by voters in November 2014.

But soil boring at the proposed site, on Leighton Road at its intersection with Anthony Avenue, revealed the soil is made up of soupy clay; and engineers expressed concern it would not be able to support the weight of the fire station and the water-laden fire trucks it will hold without the cement floor potentially cracking. So they recommend inserting steel pilings into the ground, at least 60 feet through the clay to bedrock below the station, at an estimated cost of $500,000.

Though some councilors initially expressed concerns about sticking with that site and building the station on pilings in the ground, last week those same councilors indicated they are now in favor of the proposed site.

On Thursday, councilors are scheduled to vote on whether to approve the additional funding, which is expected to keep the project on track to start construction around April and be complete in December, according to City Manager William Bridgeo.

For more information, view www.centralmaine.com