Proper personal protective equipment (PPE) is essential to the health and safety of first responders. That’s why MSA Safety, DuPont Personal Protection, and the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) are working together to provide volunteer fire departments with much-needed turnout gear through MSA Safety and DuPont’s Globe Gear Giveaway.
In 2022, 13 departments will each receive four new sets of turnouts and four new helmets. Additionally, the first 500 applicants also received a one-year NVFC membership, courtesy of MSA. Church Hill (MD) Volunteer Fire Company and Marlboro (VT) Volunteer Fire Company are the latest recipients to receive the gear.
Church Hill Volunteer Fire Company
The Church Hill Volunteer Fire Company is a 100 percent volunteer fire department
The Church Hill Volunteer Fire Company is a 100 percent volunteer fire department located on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. The department serves a rapidly developing rural area of approximately 64 square miles with an estimated population of 4,800 residents. A large portion of the area is farmland, but some of that area is being developed with single-family homes.
The department also responds to two major travel routes that have seen a steady increase in usage, which includes large trucks hauling hazardous materials such as explosives and radioactive waste. In addition, it provides automatic aid for fire, rescue, and emergency medical services with five neighboring fire departments and two adjacent counties.
New PPE turnout gear
The department’s 55 volunteer firefighters respond to an average of 270 calls each year. Not all have assigned gear, and over half are using gear that is more than 10 years old. The department’s normal operating budget is not sufficient to equip all members with adequate PPE. These new sets from MSA and DuPont will replace member gear that is non-compliant with current national standards.
“This new PPE will be a great benefit to the department and the citizens we serve,” said Lieutenant Stephen Jones, adding “It will provide our members with greater safety as we serve the public – neighbors helping neighbors – and ensure that we provide them with the best protection we can as they risk their lives on an unpaid, volunteer basis. We stress in our training that ‘everyone goes home’ at the end of every call. This grant will help ensure we meet that critical goal.”
Marlboro Volunteer Fire Company
The Marlboro Volunteer Fire Company serves a population of nearly 1,300 over 41 square miles in a rural community in Vermont. Its 15 volunteer firefighters respond to an average of 128 calls annually.
The department is also responsible for the safety of a school, historic buildings, tourism businesses
In addition to house/structure fires, medical emergencies, and increasing brush fires, the department’s response area includes a critical state highway that connects the capitals and federal highway system of New York and New Hampshire and the eastern seaboard, as well as being the main route for tourists/skiers coming to the state.
The department is also responsible for the safety of a school, historic buildings, tourism businesses, and the Marlboro Music Festival on a 530+ acre campus with more than 58 buildings.
Replacing old turnout gear
Over half of the department’s responders are using turnout gear that is over 10 years old, and three members have no assigned turnout gear at all.
Critical station improvements, apparatus maintenance, and communication system needs have added budget constraints and left the department unable to purchase new gear. Not being able to properly outfit its responders has held the department back from accepting new members.
“We are hugely grateful for the volunteers and need to ensure their safety and the integrity of the department,” said Board Secretary, Carol Ann Lobo Johnson, adding “This turnout gear will alleviate some financial hardship and enable us to properly protect our current squad and bring more volunteers into the department to share in the responsibility of protecting our town.”