Windsor Fire

The New Windsor Fire and Hose Company presented awards at its annual banquet recently.Jack Coe received a plaque for 32 years as treasurer. Tom Holland and Ed Palsgrove were given plaques for volunteerism. Edgar Wentz and Dick Warrenfeltz received plaques for chairing the breakfast committee for 12 years.Other plaques went to Marcy Munshaur for compiling a 50th-anniversary history of the company; Drew Strine, Ronnie Blacksten, Richard Hooper, Gail Hooper, Rick Hooper and Alysia Hooper for making a video of "The First Fifty Years."

Its Web site calls it "trying to keep up with the neighborhood." That's what the Lineboro Volunteer Fire Department is planning to do when it starts expanding its facilities. Lineboro is joining other fire companies in Carroll County in expanding and renovating the facilities that have outgrown equipment and personnel needs. President David Dickmyer said Lineboro awarded Jeager Inc., general contractors of Aberdeen, a $2.175 million contract to build a 7,000-square-foot addition to the Main Street firehouse, then renovate the existing building.

It took two years of pancake breakfasts, raffles and carnivals, but the 1994 Seagrave fire engine is worth it.At 2 p.m. Sunday, New Windsor Volunteer Fire Company will dedicate the new $300,000 engine at the town fire hall.The company also will rededicate a refurbished engine at a ceremony."I think the whole department is pretty proud of it," Fire Chief Ronnie Blacksten said of the new Engine 102, which has been in service since the fall."It's really been great," Mr. Blacksten said. "With the extra room, it's a lot easier to work off of and get equipment off of."

Work crews adjusted the overhead doors of the apparatus bay for the new firehouse where the New Windsor Fire & Hose Company No. 1 can now park its engines with room for three more. A 1909 ladder wagon, with wooden wheels and ladders, was the only piece of equipment at the fire station last week, as it was being readied for a grand parade yesterday from the High Street firehouse, built in 1955, to the new $4.5 million facility on Route 75. "This is going to be really different," said Richard Hooper, president of the company.

FIRE* New Windsor: Firefighters from the New Windsor fire company responded for a cleanup detail on Main St. at 10:03 a.m. Thursday. They were out for 15 minutes.

FIRE* Harney: Harney fire units responded to an investigation on McMullen Road at 8:56 a.m. Wednesday. Units were out for an hour.* New Windsor: New Windsor fire units responded to a field fire on Lowman Lane at 12:09 p.m. Thursday. Units were out for 50 minutes.

FIRE* New Windsor: The New Windsor fire company responded to a gas grill fire at a house on Medford Road at 6:35 p.m. Friday. Firefighters were out for 20 minutes.* Taneytown: Firefighters from the Taneytown company responded to a truck fire on George Street at 8 p.m. Sunday. They were out for 26 minutes.

A New Windsor woman and a male friend were injured when they were struck by lightning Tuesday outside the woman's home, fire officials said.Amy Whitfield, 18, of the 1100 block of Tibbetts Lane was standing with her friend under a tree next to a barbecue grill when lightning struck, fire officials said.Whitfield and the man, who was not identified, were taken to Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center in Baltimore, fire officials said.Their medical conditions were unavailable.The lightning did not strike the house, as reported by a Baltimore television station, said Ronnie Blacksten, chief of the New Windsor Fire Company.

The New Windsor Fire and Hose Company No. 1 has received a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency that will pay most of the cost of a back-up generator and sprinkler system in its new fire station. The generator is important because "the New Windsor fire hall could be used by the community in an emergency ... as a shelter," said Neal Roop, 46, a town councilman and a member of the fire company for 29 years. Roop did the paperwork for the Assistance to Firefighters Grant awarded by FEMA, which became part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security last year.

The 37 kindergartners from Freedom Elementary School sat attentively as Cookie Monster and Big Bird bantered about what was more important: eating a cookie or dousing the flames in their clothing. After some persuasion, Cookie Monster agreed that the first thing to do was put out the fire. "Then can I eat my cookie?" he asked. The cookie had to wait, Big Bird said, until he stopped, dropped and rolled to put out the flames. As Cookie Monster and Big Bird sang the "Stop, Drop and Roll" song, the children rocked to the music.

The 37 kindergartners from Freedom Elementary School sat attentively as Cookie Monster and Big Bird bantered about what was more important: eating a cookie or dousing the flames in their clothing. After some persuasion, Cookie Monster agreed that the first thing to do was put out the fire. "Then can I eat my cookie?" he asked. The cookie had to wait, Big Bird said, until he stopped, dropped and rolled to put out the flames. As Cookie Monster and Big Bird sang the "Stop, Drop and Roll" song, the children rocked to the music.

The New Windsor Fire and Hose Company No. 1 has received a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency that will pay most of the cost of a back-up generator and sprinkler system in its new fire station. The generator is important because "the New Windsor fire hall could be used by the community in an emergency ... as a shelter," said Neal Roop, 46, a town councilman and a member of the fire company for 29 years. Roop did the paperwork for the Assistance to Firefighters Grant awarded by FEMA, which became part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security last year.

The New Windsor Fire and Hose Company No. 1 has received a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency that will pay most of the cost of a back-up generator and sprinkler system in its new fire station. The generator is important because "the New Windsor fire hall could be used by the community in an emergency ... as a shelter," said Neal Roop, 46, a town councilman and a member of the fire company for 29 years. Roop did the paperwork for the Assistance to Firefighters Grant awarded by FEMA, which became part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security last year.

New Windsor Fire and Hose Co. No. 1 long ago outgrew its 50-year-old fire station on High Street. Two fire engines are squeezed into bays facing the street, and firefighters have less than 4 feet between the trucks and their turnout gear to suit up for a call. The ambulance, brush truck and support unit exit from the basement into an alley. But at 1 p.m. today, fire company members, along with local, county and state officials, will break ground for a 27,000- square-foot firehouse. "It's unbelievable, there's a lot of excitement now that we're in the process of starting construction," said Richard Hooper, fire company president and building committee chairman.

The Carroll County commissioners gave preliminary approval yesterday to $5.35 million in loan requests from New Windsor Fire and Hose Company No. 1, Winfield Community Volunteer Fire Department and Gamber and Community Fire Company to replace, expand or renovate their firehouses. The fire department serving the New Windsor area, which asked for a loan of up to $3 million, will break ground for a 27,000-square-foot firehouse in June, said Neal Roop, chairman of the company's communications committee for the capital campaign project.

The volunteer fire company serving the New Windsor area will soon begin a fund-raising drive to build a new firehouse - after more than 15 years of looking for a new site. The New Windsor Fire and Hose Company No. 1 station at 211 High St., built in 1954, lacks parking and offices, and the kitchen is outdated, said Richard Hooper, the company president. Most important, he said, "the equipment got bigger, but the building didn't." The two engines, snuggled inside, have to be pulled outside for washing.