Firefighters

FIREFIGHTERS throughout Howard County are honoring their "brothers" lost in the terrorist attacks Sept. 11 with FDNY (Fire Department of New York) American flag stickers on most of the emergency vehicles. It started with an idea from master firefighter Dylan Murray of Fire and Rescue Station 6 in Savage and his wife, Cindy, a graphic designer at Madison Avenue Inc., a sign company in east Columbia. In the past, Cindy Murray has created stickers for firefighters' helmets with their names and companies in reflective materials to enable them to know who's who when they are in the "thick of things," Dylan Murray said.

The Elkridge Volunteer Fire Department Junior Firefighters will sponsor a luau youth dance for ages 9-15 on Saturday, May 19, 7-10 p.m., at the fire hall, 6275 Old Washington Road. Tickets are available at the door for $10 per person with a maximum of 200 tickets sold. Food and beverages, which includes pizza, corn dogs, pretzels, nachos, candy, water and sodas, will also be for sale at the dance. As always, the department enforces a "no exceptions" policy on appropriate behavior and dress code for its youth dances, and also mandates a strict adult sign-in/sign-out procedure for attendance.

The Rev. Marion C. Bascom, a leading Baltimore civil rights activist remembered for his lifetime quest for social justice, died of a heart attack Thursday at the University of Maryland Medical Center. He was 87 and lived in Reservoir Hill. "A giant has fallen," said former Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke, a close friend and a member of Douglas Memorial Community Church, where Mr. Bascom was pastor for 46 years. "He affected thousands of lives in our community and was a positive life force.

When a fire broke out at a Canton warehouse April 22 and firefighters confirmed there were dangerous chemicals inside the building, it spawned some basic questions for reporters. What sorts of chemicals were present, and what risks do they pose? Did they cause any harm to people, animals or the environment? Officials with the fire department and Maryland Department of the Environment were forthcoming, explaining that powerful acids were stored in the warehouse for use in anodizing metals.

No one was injured Monday afternoon as firefighters battled a blaze at a Fallston home, officials said. Dave Williams of the Harford County Volunteer Fire and EMS Association said the fire was reported at about 3:25 p.m. on Franklins Chance Court. The occupant of the house was home but was able to self-evacuate, he said. Text BUSINESS to 70701 to get Baltimore Sun Business text alerts

The mayor gave firefighter Jeffrey Novack the medal of valor Thursday, and for a brief moment all was good in the city. Baltimore's chief executive joked about Novack's boyish appearance, his being just 23 years old and all, and already a hero. It was a perfect stage: the opening ceremony of the Firehouse Expo, which attracts thousands of firefighters from all over the country to Baltimore to learn better training and safety. Participants gave Novack a standing ovation as the shy young man stood in front of colleagues from departments in New York, Boston, Chicago and beyond.

All the politicians in this city get wonderful pensions, but the people who risk their lives and health to protect their fellow citizens get nothing. I have been retired from the Baltimore City Fire Department for 14 years. I have a medical disability pension because of being hurt on the job. Because of the condition of my knees, I have been unable to work a full-time job. In the 14 years I have been pensioned, my health insurance contribution has gone from $450 a year to $7,300 a year.

Normally, they're partners in public safety. But next month, Baltimore police and firefighters will be pummeling each other inside a cage – for charity. The Sept. 30 mixed martial arts event at the Du Burns Arena is being billed as a "night of live cage fights that include active law enforcement and firefighters," battling it out to raise money for injured officers. It's the first of its kind locally, though such "badges vs. hoses" matches have been growing in popularity across the country.

Anne Arundel County firefighters responded to a blaze at an Einstein Bros. Bagels Sunday morning, which they say gutted the Severna Park shop. Lt. Keith Hamilton, of the Anne Arundel County fire department, said firefighters responded to the business, located at 500 block of Ritchie Highway, at around 12:10 a.m., where they found heavy smoke and fire coming from the roof. Firefighters were able to bring the one-alarm blaze under control in about an hour, Hamilton said. He said that the structure of the freestanding shop was still intact, but the interior was destroyed.

Baltimore firefighters who staff Truck Co. 1 have received a commendation from the department for saving the life of a 2-week old baby who was suffering a heart attack in February. Because of a delayed response from an ambulance, officials said the firefighters transported the infant to the hospital in their fire truck. "The patient survived due to the quick action, and medical attention provided by members of Truck Company 1," city fire commanders said in a statement. According to the department, the firefighters responded on Feb. 7 to an East Baltimore rowhouse in the 1600 block of N. Caroline St. for a report of a baby not breathing.

William B. Levin, a longtime member of the Pikesville Volunteer Fire Company and senior claims adjuster at the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, died Friday in hospice care at the Gilchrest Center of kidney cancer. He was 65 and had battled cancer for several years. Members of the Pikesville company held a birthday party for him April 25 in the chapel at Greater Baltimore Medical Center. They awarded him a life membership, recognizing his 24 years of service with the volunteer company.

Community support is vital to volunteer fire departments in rural America. Most small communities do not receive enough funding for fire protection services, but still experience the same emergencies found in a big city. Thanks to one local farm family and America's Farmers Grow Communities, the Level Volunteer Fire Company recently received some much needed support. Grow Communities, sponsored by the Monsanto Fund, gives farmers the opportunity to win $2,500 for their favorite local nonprofit organizations.

I met Mike Manieri, the fireman whose obituary appeared in the paper recently, on several occasions - we frequented many of the same restaurants - and I liked him. I was sorry to read of his passing ("Michael V. Manieri, city firefighter and medic," April 21). I was struck by the comment made about him by one of his former chiefs: "He was a great problem-solver, and at the same time he absolutely refused to do anything that was unethical. " To have something like this said about one's personal ethics should be what everyone - politician, government worker, private sector employee, all of us - should strive for. Jeffrey Smith , Baltimore

With a Canton warehouse fire reduced to a smolder by Monday morning, attention shifted to ensuring that surrounding homes and the harbor's waters are protected from caustic chemicals inside the facility. State and federal environmental officials were on the site alongside firefighters into Monday evening, monitoring water streaming from the one-story brick structure into storm drains. The warehouse contains nearly 8,000 gallons of corrosive chemicals, according to the Maryland Department of the Environment.

Michael Vincent Manieri, a Baltimore City firefighter and medic, died of heart disease Wednesday at St. Joseph Medical Center. He was 40 and lived in Towson. Born in Baltimore and raised on Parklawn Avenue, he attended Shrine of the Little Flower School and Archbishop Curley High School. He later took emergency medical training courses at the Community College of Baltimore County at Essex. "It was his dream to become a firefighter from the time he was 9 years old," said his father, Frank Manieri of Towson.

Firefighters responded to a fire in the 3500 block of Old Frederick Road, which left one person injured. Fire Department spokesman Kevin Cartwright said firefighters responded to a call at 6:11 p.m. and had extinguished the fire by 6:25 p.m. The cause is under investigation, he said. One person, whose identity and gender was not immediately available, was transported to a nearby hospital for non-life threatening injuries, Cartwright said. ywenger@baltsun.com Twitter.com/yvonnewenger

The Baltimore County Fire Department will conduct a training exercise from about 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday at 6835 Dogwood Road in Woodlawn. The burn exercise, supervised by the county Fire-Rescue Academy, will involve smoke and fire in a highly visible area. Neighbors or motorists should be aware that the fire will be under control and in compliance with national safety guidelines. The exercise will give fire crews a training opportunity with real-life conditions. Dogwood Road will be closed from about 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., and neighbors may expect minor inconveniences.

Five firefighters battling a house fire in Lothian on Wednesday afternoon fell into the basement of the two-story house in the 5800 block of Little Road when the first floor collapsed, a county Fire Department spokesman said. Three got out on their own without injuries, but two had to be rescued and were taken by ambulances to area hospitals, said Division Chief Michael Cox, the spokesman. One was reported in good condition; the condition of the other firefighter was not available. Reported at 1:35 p.m., the three-alarm fire was brought under control in about three hours.

A blaze Sunday at an Edgewater marina destroyed a storage shed and damaged three sailboats. Anne Arundel County Fire Capt. James Rostek said 94 firefighters responded to a four-alarm brush fire at 1:59 p.m. at the Holiday Point Marina in the 3700 block of Beach Drive Boulevard. The fire was under control by 4 p.m., and extinguished by 5 p.m. No civilian or firefighter injuries were reported, Rostek said. The cause of the fire is under investigation. The outbuilding destroyed was located on marina property, Rostek said.

As they prepared for the helicopter assault in volatile eastern Afghanistan, the team of American and Afghan special-forces soldiers was told it might encounter 10 to 15 enemy fighters on the ground. But when the sun rose over Laghman Province that day two years ago, the men found themselves taking machine-gun fire from a force of more than 100. "It turned into a battle of survival," Maryland Air National Guard Capt. Barry F. Crawford Jr. said Wednesday. "The enemy was completely around us. They had called in reinforcements, and they were using the terrain to their advantage.