Bridge Fire

The summer fire carnival season opens Monday in Union Bridge.The carnivals are the lifeblood of most of Carroll's volunteer fire departments, which count heavily on proceeds they raise from the six-day events to fuel their operating budgets through the year and buy such basic items as fire engines and ambulances.County residents count on the fairs to provide them with entertainment and good food during the long, hot summer.At fire department fairs, a visitor can find all kinds of games, rides, food, raffles, fire queen pageants and parades.

The Union Bridge Volunteer Fire Company has announced its 2004 officers. Administrative officers are Thomas Garber, president; Edgar Wentz, vice president; Linda Bostian, secretary; Mike Kreimer, treasurer; Daniel Cartzendafner, assistant treasurer; Barbara Warehime, recording secretary; and the Rev. Richard Michael, chaplain. Executive board members are Rick Etzler, Jim Harris, Jim Sinnott and David Nelson. Trustees are Richard Gesell, Charles Haines, John Keeney, Rick Wetzel and Jay Anderson.

The Tasmanian devil is roaming the countryside in northwest Carroll County.As the mascot for the Union Bridge Fire Company's new rescue squad, he's the symbol for ripping things apart to save lives."

Wind apparently stirred day-old ashes from a wood stove to ignite a fire and cause about $70,000 damage to a home in Union Bridge, the state fire marshal said yesterday. The ashes had been discarded Saturday afternoon in a plastic bucket without a lid, according to an investigator, Deputy State Fire Marshal Timothy S. Warner of the metro regional office in Westminster. About 24 hours later, Sunday afternoon, the wind fanned a spark, which started the fire on the rear porch of the house in the first block of S. Main St., he said.

Union Bridge: Engines from the Union Bridge Fire Company responded to a brush fire on Middleburg Road at 12:15 p.m. Tuesday. They were out for 29 minutes.* Taneytown: Taneytown fire engines were dispatched to a brush fire on Pump House Road at 5:49 a.m. Tuesday. They were out for 20 minutes.

FIRE* New Windsor: Engines from the New Windsor Fire Company were dispatched for a car fire on Route 75 at 6:06 p.m. Wednesday. Units were out for 15 minutes.* Union Bridge: Engines from the Union Bridge Fire Company responded for a fire alarm sounding in a building on South Benedum Street at 6:12 p.m. Wednesday. They were out for 15 minutes.

The Union Bridge Fire Company Ladies Auxiliary recently donated $30,000 to the company for a new multi-use response vehicle.Ladies Auxiliary President Yvonne Stultz presented the money to fire company President Tom Garber at the annual banquet.The Utility 8 truck will replace an older, refurbished model. It will be used for routine service, as a mobile command vehicle and for personnel and equipment transport.Pub Date: 4/12/99

FIRE* Taneytown: Firefighters from the Taneytown and Harney stations responded for a fire alarm sounding in a building on Broad Street at 1:39 a.m. Sunday. Units were out for 27 minutes.Taneytown firefighters responded for a fire alarm sounding in a building on Bear Run Road at 12:51 a.m. Sunday. They were out for 34 minutes.* Union Bridge: Firefighters from the Union Bridge fire station responded to a house on McKinstrys Mill Road for a furnace fire at 4:41 p.m. Sunday. Units were out for one hour.

Being slight of stature may have saved a 78-year-old woman from serious injuries when she was knocked down and partially run over by a car in the driveway of her Union Bridge home Friday morning.Helen Cottrell, of the 600 block of Union Bridge Road, was taken to Frederick Memorial Hospital, where she was in fair condition Friday. She was held for observation, a hospital spokesman said.Deputy Sheriff Brad K. Brown, who investigated the accident, said, "Mrs. Cottrell was standing in the driveway and turned to look across the street at a neighbor as her husband, Clark Cottrell, 76, started to back their car out of the garage."

Name: Patricia A. KeeneyHonored by The Carroll County Sun for: Becoming Maryland's 1991 Firewoman of the Year for her outstanding involvement in fire prevention throughout her communityAge: 48Residence; hometown: Union Bridge; WestminsterEducation: Graduate of St. John's Catholic High School here and Strayer Business College in BaltimoreFamily: Husband: John, employed with Lehigh Portland Cement Co.; children: Steven, 25, Daniel, 23, and Barbara, 18, all...

The Union Bridge Fire Company Ladies Auxiliary recently donated $30,000 to the company for a new multi-use response vehicle.Ladies Auxiliary President Yvonne Stultz presented the money to fire company President Tom Garber at the annual banquet.The Utility 8 truck will replace an older, refurbished model. It will be used for routine service, as a mobile command vehicle and for personnel and equipment transport.Pub Date: 4/12/99

Racism article only told part of the storyI am writing in response to the Dec. 15 article by Ronnie Greene,''Noose raises symbolism of racial divide.'' I, as well as the training participants, agreed to allow Mr. Greene to observe a class because of our desire to show that the Baltimore County Fire Department has adopted pro-active measures to combat intolerance and bigotry. But the positive aspects of the training program were not reported.Here are some examples of the positives: Since the inception of Fair Practices Training (in the spring of 1996 and preceding the noose incident)

By the bridge where a homeless man set an electrical fire that caused a blackout in North Baltimore this week, a few advocates for the homeless stood in the driving rain yesterday, protesting what they said was an accident that might have been avoided if the man had shelter.As the advocates waved signs that read "Homes not Blackouts" and "Rehab all Vacant Homes," Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. workers repaired the cables that were severed when the unidentified man accidentally set the fire Tuesday night while trying to keep warm under the Jones Falls Expressway at Cold Spring Lane.

The first engine to arrive at a fire that destroyed a mobile home near the Sheppard Lane bridge in rural Howard County on Jan. 6 was from a Columbia fire station about six miles away.The second was from a Clarksville station less than two miles away. It could have arrived three to four minutes sooner had it crossed the Sheppard Lane bridge.Instead, because of weight restrictions on the bridge, it was forced to take a detour that added about four miles.Sheppard Lane is one of 18 county-maintained bridges with weight restrictions.

THE LADIES' auxiliary of the Union Bridge Fire Company will hold its second annual Christmas Mart from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at the fire hall on West Locust Street. Fifty-five local and regional crafters will be on hand to sell their wares, from wood-burned accessories to flower arrangements.It will be a full house, according to the event's chairwoman, Yvonne Stultz, so you might want to drop in early.Refreshments will be served, including an array of home-cooked soups and sandwiches prepared by the women in the auxiliary, and carryout will be available.

Bring your mother to the Union Bridge Fire Company for breakfast Sunday.The fire company will hold its annual Mother's Day breakfast from 7 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.On the menu are pancakes, scrambled eggs, sausage and sausage gravy, pudding, hominy, stewed apples, home fries, muffins, biscuits, orange juice and coffee."

Engines from the Union Bridge fire company assisted Frederick County Sunday night at a three-alarm blaze that destroyed a two-story bank barn loaded with hay in the 8700 block of Rocky Ridge Road west of Detour.The fire consumed about 2,000 small bales of hay, about 125 large rolls of hay, an air compressor and an undetermined amount of lumber for construction, according to Robert Sexton, son of the owner of the beef cattle farm.The blaze was discovered by family members about 8 p.m. Several family members tried to fight the blaze, but were hampered by a frozen garden hose.

Perry L. Jones Jr. and Scott W. Davis (seeking the mayoral seat) andBret D. Grossnickle, Jeffrey M. Six and Edgar Wentz (seeking one of two council seats) were asked these four questions:* What do you view as the town's three most immediate needs?* What is your position on the annexation of the Phillips property and the expansion of Lehigh? How should the town assure adequate services for its residents (i.e.:water, roads, fire and emergency services, public facilities)?* What steps would you suggest to help attract additional business to Union Bridge while keeping its small town charm?

FIRE* Taneytown: Firefighters from the Taneytown and Harney stations responded for a fire alarm sounding in a building on Broad Street at 1:39 a.m. Sunday. Units were out for 27 minutes.Taneytown firefighters responded for a fire alarm sounding in a building on Bear Run Road at 12:51 a.m. Sunday. They were out for 34 minutes.* Union Bridge: Firefighters from the Union Bridge fire station responded to a house on McKinstrys Mill Road for a furnace fire at 4:41 p.m. Sunday. Units were out for one hour.