Fire Department

SHARPSBURG - The Sharpsburg Volunteer Fire Co. has been awarded a $38,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to purchase an emergency generator, Fire Chief Darryl Benner said. Benner said the office of U.S. Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski, D-Md., notified him Wednesday that the fire department would receive the money. Mikulski's office did not release the information publicly until Thursday. As a condition of the grant, the fire department will have to pay $2,000 toward the purchase of the generator, Benner said.

MONT ALTO, Pa. - A ribbon stretched across the new fairgrounds buildings will be ceremoniously cut on the first day of the Mont Alto Fire Department Carnival. The Friday ceremony will kick off the 33rd annual carnival, which continues through June 21 and raises money for the fire department. Charlie Baker hopes to clean up on the last night, lock the doors of the new buildings and go home to relax. That's in contrast to the massive, equipment-heavy efforts that cleared out the Quincy Township, Pa., area the department used to rent every year.

One person was airlifted to the Johns Hopkins Burn Center in Baltimore after an sport utility vehicle caught fire on Underpass Way early Thursday afternoon, Deputy 1st Class Tom Routzahn of the Washington County Sheriff's Office said. Routzahn said two people were in the vehicle. Edward Haupt said he was driving with his sister down Underpass Way when he realized his SUV was on fire, and he pulled over. He was not injured. "I didn't even know it was on fire until another driver told me," he said.

The Berkeley County Council and the Bedington Volunteer Fire Department have agreed to keep a combined paid and volunteer firefighter system in place following a six-month trial period. Robert W. “Robbie” Robinson, president of the fire department, said Friday that the addition of two full-time county-paid firefighters to help respond to weekday calls dispatched to Bedington has been “fantastic.” A similar trial period with two paid firefighters assigned to the South Berkeley Volunteer Fire Co. is set to expire next month, but Chief Rick Petry said he expects the fire company will vote to continue the arrangement.

MONT ALTO, Pa. -- Organizers of Mont Alto Fire Co.'s first tractor and truck pull estimated that 1,500 to 2,000 people turned out for the event Saturday night. "I was speechless. I just couldn't believe there would be that many people out for an event like that," said Charlie Baker, president of the fire company. He said rain delayed the 6 p.m. start, but 75 to 100 volunteers, including 30 who served in roles such as timekeepers and judges, saw that the five classes ended around 10 p.m., as agreed upon with neighbors.

Fire displaces six from home on West North Street Six people were displaced from their home early Monday after an attic fire. Waynesboro Fire Chief Dave Martin said a police officer noticed smoke coming from a single-family home at 144 W. North St. at about 3:45 a.m. “They had no working smoke detectors,” Martin said. The fire's cause was accidental and involved the house's electrical system, he said. Because power was shut off to the house, the fire department contacted the American Red Cross of the Cumberland Valley to assist the residents, according to Martin.

Cub Scouts from Pack 22 saw a demonstration on how firefighters gear up when responding to a fire. The Cub Scouts recently visited Junior Independent No. 3 Fire Department and Community Rescue Services on Eastern Boulevard. The Cub Scouts took a tour of the fire department, CRS living quarters and saw the various equipment used in emergencies. Pack members were also given a demonstration of the equipment firefighters wear and how CRS uses the "jaws of life" to extract victims from vehicles.

The Hagerstown Fire Department will install a free smoke alarm for any city resident who requests one. The alarms run on lithium batteries, which last for 10 years. Since January 2007, the department has installed 1,250 lithium-battery smoke alarms in 600 homes in Hagerstown, said Mike Weller, Hagerstown fire prevention coordinator. Everyone should have a working smoke alarm that is less than 10 years old on every level of their home, Weller said. For those who do not live within Hagerstown's city limits but would like to install lithium-battery smoke alarms, most major retail outlets sell them, Weller said.

Several city intersections were blocked off this morning after workers hit a 2-inch high-pressure gas line behind 37 S. Prospect St., causing a gas leak, said Richard Hopkins, Hagers-town Fire Department battalion chief. Columbia Gas representatives responded to the scene, and the leak was turned off at 8:38 a.m., Hopkins said. The gas line fed Walnut Towers on Walnut Street, and residents in that complex were advised to stay inside and close all windows, Hopkins said. The fire department could not detect any gas inside any buildings within range of the leak, but did get readings of gas outside, he said.

HALFWAY - The Volunteer Company of Halfway and Shoney's Restaurant at the Valley Mall are sponsoring a fire prevention and child safety awareness night Tuesday, June 8, from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. on June 8. Some of the events will include child safety seat checks, bike helmet checks and blood pressure screening. Fire safety information and the Fire Safety trailer will be available and a fire truck and ambulance will be on display. Members of the fire department will act as "celebrity servers" at Shoney's from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. All tips from the evening will benefit the fire department.