Airy Fire

Eugene Mellin, an assistant fire chief at Mount Airy Volunteer Fire Company, has been awarded the Silver Spring Trophy for fire prevention from the Maryland State Firemen's Association.The Silver Spring Trophy is the state association's highest individual fire prevention award."It's given to the person who does the most fire prevention in their community," Mellin said.As fire prevention coordinator for Mount Airy in 1995, Mellin started a Little Miss and Mister fire prevention contest for elementary school children, instituted year-round visits to neighborhoods and shopping centers, participated in the Christmas in April project and revived the Miss Mount Airy Fire Prevention queen contest.

Area fire companies to install dry hydrants Two Carroll County volunteer fire departments were awarded a total of $3,000 through the Department of Natural Resources' Dry Fire Hydrant Grant Program. The money will go toward installing four dry fire hydrants in areas serviced by the Winfield and Mount Airy fire companies. The hydrants will give firefighters easy access to ponds and streams in previously hard-to-reach places. The money will pay for PVC pipe and connecting equipment. Winfield Fire Chief Greg Dods said two hydrants will be installed near Salem Bottom and Bloom roads, and at Braddock and Skidmore roads, where he said 1,300 gallons a minute flow, even in drought conditions.

DESPITE the soggy weather Monday evening, Mount Airy Volunteer Fire Department opened its 69th annual Firemen's Carnival. The weeklong festivities conclude tomorrow evening, but carnival-goers still have plenty of time to enjoy the rides, amusements and lots of live music.Head into town early tomorrow to reserve a prime viewing spot for the Fireman's Parade. Beginning at 5 p.m., marching bands, floats, clowns, and more firetrucks then you could imagine will travel the parade route down Main Street, south to Park Avenue, ending at the carnival grounds.

Mount Airy Volunteer Fire Company will hold its annual carnival Monday through July 26 on the carnival grounds at Twin Arch Road and Route 27. The carnival will feature food, games, rides, raffles and music starting at 7 p.m. daily. Dinners will be served starting at 5 p.m. daily in the activities building. Discounted ride nights will be held Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. The firefighters' parade will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday. A fireworks display will be held July 26. Concerts will be given by Jukebox Heroes on Monday, Mason Dixon Band on Tuesday, the Challengers on Wednesday, Fastest Grass Alive on Thursday, Allen Brown and the Wishing Well on July 25 and Randy Lee Ashcraft and the Saltwater Cowboys on July 26. Hourly raffles for $25 cash will be drawn Monday through Friday, but ticketholders must be present to win. The carnival ends July 26 with a $6,000 cash raffle and a junior fire department raffle for a television with DVD/VCR.

SANTA CLAUS IS coming to town. Actually, he rode through town last week atop one of Mount Airy's fire engines instead of on a sleigh, thanks to the efforts of Mount Airy Fire Prevention Committee.Keeping up with its annual tradition, Mount Airy Volunteer Fire Company drove Santa through the town and surrounding neighborhoods the week of Dec. 14, ending Sunday.Lt. Jerry Abel of Mount Airy fire company drove the fire engine Sunday. "It's a lot of fun to do this for the kids," he said. "They have a great time seeing Santa, and they get candy canes.

A NEW MOUNT Airy Fire Prevention Queen was crowned July 20.Anne Marie Histon, a 15-year-old junior at South Carroll High School, received her title during a ceremony held that evening at the Mount Airy carnival grounds.Amanda Cauffman, the first runner-up Maryland State Miss Fire Prevention Queen and a Gaithersburg resident, delivered a speech and gave flowers to Anne Marie and Christina Gue, the departing Miss Mount Airy.Christina, a 16-year-old student at South Carroll, also holds the title of Miss Maryland Fire Chiefs Queen.

For 17-year-old Beth Bonde, serving as Mount Airy's Miss Fire Prevention during the past 11 months has been a rewarding experience."It's given me a lot of public-speaking skills," said Miss Bonde. "It's opened a door; I don't have to be shy anymore.Miss Bonde, whose one-year term as Miss Mount Airy Fire Prevention will end July 26, said she has enjoyed meeting people and getting to know them."I met a woman from another fire department who has a career I'm interested in," she said.One of the biggest challenges of her term has been getting to know the many volunteers at the Mount Airy Fire Company."

MARK YOUR calendar for the 71st annual Mount Airy Volunteer Firemen's Carnival to be held July 20-25 at the Mount Airy carnival grounds at Twin Arch Road and Route 27.Ricky Baker, past president of Mount Airy Fire Company, is the chairman of the carnival committee this year. Bill Lawton, first vice president of the fire company, is co-chairman.This is the largest fund-raising event of the year for the fire company and promises excitement for the whole family, with food, live entertainment, rides and games, including ride-all-night for one price from July 20-22, a $6,000 cash giveaway, the Mount Airy Junior Fire Company raffle, and the Firemen's Parade at 7 p.m. July 23.The fire company auxiliary will serve buffet dinners every evening from 5 p.m. in the air-conditioned activities building on the carnival grounds.

Fire company volunteer Janet Kipe has been patiently waiting for calls of interest about the Miss Mount Airy Fire Prevention Contest coming up July 25. But her silent telephone is a constant reminder of waning community interest in the once-popular competition.Having a young woman serve as a fire prevention ambassador is a long-held tradition that the Mount Airy Fire Company wishes to continue, said Mrs. Kipe. "We need young girls to do this," she said.The local competition dates to fire company summer carnivals held at the Twin Arch Road grounds at least 35 years ago, said C. Oscar Baker, a past Mount Airy Fire Company president who continues to be an active company member.

EVERY YEAR thousands of children are killed or injured in and around the home. In most cases, these accidents could have been avoided if the child had been given basic lessons in household safety.Mount Airy Volunteer Fire Company is dedicated to teaching children the importance of fire and home safety.The company is looking for donations to purchase Safe House, a small, realistic house designed to teach children safety lessons that could mean the difference between life and death.Safe House is a vinyl, portable house that can be taken to schools, day-care facilities, carnivals or used at the fire station.

A three-alarm fire ripped through a house in Mount Airy early yesterday, leaving one resident hospitalized with burns to her arms, chest and neck, authorities said. Robin Curley, 41, was flown to the burn unit at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center in Baltimore for treatment of first- and second-degree burns, the state fire marshal's office said. She was in fair condition, a hospital spokeswoman said. The fire, which caused an estimated $75,000 in damage, started when heat built up in a mulch pile outside the home's garage, the fire marshal's office said.

WHERE there's smoke there's fire department troubles. The latest smoke signal comes from Mount Airy. That border town is caught in the crunch of two different counties with two different approaches to financing their fire and ambulance services. Frederick County wants to begin charging its half of the divided municipality a tax for fire and emergency services supported by that county. The Carroll County half protests that it supports the Mount Airy Volunteer Fire Company that is located in Carroll, supported in part by town taxes, and serves the entire town without respect to official political boundary lines.

MOUNT AIRY Volunteer Fire Company invites you, your family and friends to its 73rd annual Firemen's Carnival from Monday through July 29. This is the fire company's biggest fund-raising event of the year. All proceeds from the carnival go directly to provide emergency medical, fire and rescue services. The fire company auxiliary will serve buffet dinners each evening in the air-conditioned Activities Building. Other fire company-operated stands will include grilled hamburgers, hot dogs, pizza, Italian sausage, french fries, sodas, funnel cakes, pit beef and ham. Ride-all-night for one price will be offered Monday through Wednesday, and the annual parade will be held beginning at 7 p.m. Thursday.

To those who were injured in a Carroll County automobile accident last Memorial Day weekend, the Mount Airy Volunteer Fire Company is full of angels. To the 1,000 or so who attended a recent black-tie gala, these are exactly the kinds of angels that make Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore a leader in caring for those with critical injuries. "The gala [was] an opportunity for us to pay tribute and show our support for the hard work of all the people who stand ready every day to save the lives of people injured by trauma," said Frank Kelly, chairman of the Shock Trauma Center Board of Visitors.

EVERY YEAR thousands of children are killed or injured in and around the home. In most cases, these accidents could have been avoided if the child had been given basic lessons in household safety.Mount Airy Volunteer Fire Company is dedicated to teaching children the importance of fire and home safety.The company is looking for donations to purchase Safe House, a small, realistic house designed to teach children safety lessons that could mean the difference between life and death.Safe House is a vinyl, portable house that can be taken to schools, day-care facilities, carnivals or used at the fire station.

Six Mount Airy firefighters were injured Monday night when their fire engine skidded on ice and crashed into an embankment while responding to a three-alarm warehouse blaze in Woodbine.The fire destroyed the cinder-block offices of A-Aarid Enterprise Corp., a shipping, moving and storage company at 7774 Woodbine Road. State fire marshals estimated $100,000 worth of damage to the structure and $30,000 to the contents.The cause of the blaze was a malfunction in an electric baseboard heater, said state Fire Marshal Rocco Gabriele.

WHERE there's smoke there's fire department troubles. The latest smoke signal comes from Mount Airy. That border town is caught in the crunch of two different counties with two different approaches to financing their fire and ambulance services. Frederick County wants to begin charging its half of the divided municipality a tax for fire and emergency services supported by that county. The Carroll County half protests that it supports the Mount Airy Volunteer Fire Company that is located in Carroll, supported in part by town taxes, and serves the entire town without respect to official political boundary lines.

A very important person has been missing from Mount Airy Volunteer Fire Company for nearly 12 months.Without a Miss Mount Airy Fire Prevention to wave at spectators, the local Fire Department's parade participation, near and far, just wasn't the same. Without a reigning fire prevention hostess, the fire company's annual open house was missing a key player. Without a smiling fire prevention ambassador, the company's visits to local schools lacked an important spokeswoman.Most important, without the contest and a young woman to represent the fire company, a valuable connection to area youth was severed, said Karen Duffy.