Frederick firehouse receives sprinkler grant

Despite its mission to save the residents in Frederick County from damages from fires, the United Steam Fire Engine Company on South Market Street operates in a building that's not as ready for a fire in its own station as it could be.

This is why the company is receiving a $62,700 grant through the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Assistance to Firefighters Grant to install a sprinkler system in their building at 79 S. Market St. The grants fund firefighting equipment, protection equipment, training, vehicles, firefighter and first responder safety projects, and staffing recruitment and retention, as well as public fire safety education, according to a press release.

The station was built in the early 1800s, according to Fire Chief Jerry Dorsey, so having the safety measure wasn't a required part of construction. This is the second grant the station has received, Dorsey said, with a grant last year allowing the station to purchase radios and extrication equipment for its trucks. Dorsey called the sprinklers "a great opportunity" to improve safety at the station.

"It'd be a great opportunity for the station to be able to have a sprinkler system in the building," Dorsey said. "...Getting the sprinkler system, we're getting an additional upgrade. Being built back in the day, it wasn't required to have all that. We're taking the measures to improve the station."

Frederick County Fire Marshal Michael Dmuchowski echoed similar sentiment.

"With the age of the building, sprinkler systems were not required," Dmuchowski said. "It's a great opportunity for the fire company to get that opportunity to put that in their building. It's required in a lot of buildings these days...It's an opportunity for them to improve their building."

Dmuchowski said the addition of sprinklers would help protect firefighters and their equipment, as well as the building.

"It'll provide additional protection for the personnel as well as the structure," Dmuchowski said. "...A smoke detection system is going to alert you to a fire, a sprinkler system is going to suppress the fire. It enhances life safety features. It's also designed to hopefully extinguish the fire and minimize the damage."

Without the grant, the company wouldn't be able to install the upgrade, he said. "It's a large expense that the fire company couldn't afford to do without the assistance of the federal grant to put the sprinkler system in," Dmuchowski said. "We encourage sprinklers. Sprinklers save lives."

Dorsey said the grant would help keep the station operating out of the same location it was established in originally. "It's good that we be able to upgrade our fire station, being so old as it is," he said. "Being established at the same location and still running out of it today, there's not too many fire stations in the nation that can say that — that they can still operate out of the same station they were established in."

Since 2001, Maryland fire departments and Emergency Medical Services units have received more than $95 million in AFGP funding, nearly $11 million of which has gone to fire departments in Frederick County.

Recent awards include a March 2 grant of $152,000 to the Frederick County Division Fire and Rescue Services for the purchase of cleaning equipment for county firefighters, including 700 turnout-gear storage bags; three hydrostatic test machines, which test the integrity of a fire suit's liner; seven washers and extractors, which remove the dangerous buildup from the suits; and four drying cabinets, which will be spread throughout the county for better access for fire company use.

The New Market Volunteer Fire Company also received $83,192 from the grant program in late February for the purchase of hoses, nozzles and rescue tools along with six new self-contained breathing apparatus units, which allow rescue workers to breathe in hazardous environments.

by Tripp Laino | Staff Writer
tlaino@gazette.net