New Equipment to Help Elkridge Firefighters Rescue Trapped Victims

It’s about to get easier for the to get people out of burning buildings safely.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has announced it is awarding the Elkridge Volunteer Fire Department (EVFD) one of its Assistance to Firefighters Grants.

The $27,050 grant will go toward the purchase of equipment to help firefighters and civilians escape if they are trapped inside burning buildings, according to Lt. Keith Summers, EVFD vice president.

The 69 personal escape systems paid for by the grant consist of a harness, anchor, rope and other devices used "when firefighters operating inside a structure have main means of egress blocked and are forced to bail out of a window," said Summers.

"The personal escape system will allow them to make a controlled descent, saving themselves and possibly the occupants they were trying to rescue," said Summers, who noted that a few years ago a firefighter was burned while trapped in a townhouse blaze. In the absence of personal escape systems, Summers said firefighters “would have to rely on help from other crews, hope a ladder is in place or jump and hope for the best.

"The awarding of this grant allows us to purchase equipment that we would not have been able to purchase otherwise. All the firefighters at our station will be outfitted with a personal escape system," said Summers. He added that training on how to use the systems will begin next month.

In the past five years, the department has received two grants totaling more than $50,000 from FEMA.

In 2005, EVFD was awarded approximately $37,000 for new uniforms. In 2009, the department received approximately $16,000 for devices mounted inside firefighters’ masks to amplify their voices over the radio.

This year, FEMA awarded hundreds of Assistance to Firefighters Grants to departments across the country. Twenty-five grants were awarded in Maryland, and only one recipient—EVFD—was in Howard County. The grant was announced Friday.