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."

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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

The Lino Lakes Public Safety Department's fire service has dispatched.

As of Feb. 1, it is the sole first responder to fire-related emergencies. The response crew includes cross-trained police officers who are constantly on patrol around the city and about two dozen on-call firefighters. There are about a dozen assigned to each station, the older Centennial Fire District (CFD) station on the north side on Lake Drive and the new station on the south side.

The city's brand new fire station at the corner of Centerville Road and Birch Street is a state-of-the-art design and was developed with the assistance of a consulting firm, said Councilman Bill Kusterman. The total cost of the building was $3.9 million. It is 15,014 square feet, which includes some exterior areas. The station has new training equipment, a dispatch center, day room and garage.

When an on-call firefighter reports to duty, he or she will go to the turnout gear room and suit up. They will then go to the dispatch center room and await instructions. There will also be a screen that displays which firefighters have responded to the call and are on their way. If called to the scene, they will board the responding equipment units and head out.

When returning from a call, firefighters will use the "decon" restrooms to get out of their gear, which is "the unfancy bathroom," said Public Safety Director John Swenson. If their breathing apparatus needs a fill they will bring it to the apparatus storage room. There are special washers and dryers for turnout gear.

The fire station is equipped with multiple features that offer firefighters 11 of the 12 training requirements to be licensed. Firefighters need to update their training every three years. The only training element not available at the new station is a live burn.

"We can do all of them in this building," said Swenson, "only not the live burn."

There is a second-story training mezzanine just above the garage where firefighters can use ladders to go through windows. The mezzanine has open slots where different types of windows can be installed for practice. The mezzanine also has a manhole that extends down to the turnout gear room and a board that firefighters can cut through to simulate an emergency where cutting through a floor is necessary. The training mezzanine can be filled with smoke by flipping switches on a wall in a separate room. There is a window in that room through which observers may look out onto the mezzanine.

A training tower simulates a four-story building. Firefighters can be trained in the stairwell inside or on the wall outside of the building, which has doors that open up to simulate windows for training purposes. There is also a balcony for use in training firefighters in using an aerial device. The stairwell inside has a water standpipe --common in commercial buildings -- and firefighters can practice carrying a hose up to the standpipe and tapping into the building's water supply.

One of the staff even donated a basketball hoop so firefighters can practice getting their heart rates up while using the breathing apparatus.

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