Monday, May 13, 2013
Montgomery County Council meets most Tuesdays in Rockville.
Montgomery County Council members will begin to discuss how to spend revenue collected from an ambulance fund that took effect this January at its next meeting, planned for Tuesday, May 14, at 9:30 a.m. in Rockville. The fund is the result of a law passed in 2012 that allows the county to collect fees from the insurance companies of patients transported by emergency medical services (EMS). It was defeated in a 2010 voter referendum, Patch previously reported, but reintroduced and passed by the County Council. County Executive Isiah Leggett submitted a proposal to allocate 15 percent of the revenue to the Montgomery County Volunteer Fire Rescue Association, the group that runs local volunteer fire and rescue stations. If approved, about $2.…
Friday, March 8, 2013
Fire officials: Upgrading to the new cardiac monitors—known as Lifepak 15s—will save lives.
The Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service was awarded a $1.2 million federal grant to replace old cardiac defibrillators, MCFRS announced Thursday. Fire Chief Richard Bowers said more than half of the department’s cardiac defibrillators have been in use since 2002, longer than recommended. Fire officials said upgrading to the new cardiac monitors—known as Lifepak 15s—would save lives. The equipment enables first responders to quickly diagnose a patient in the field, provide quick access to clinical information and faster treatment while simultaneously transmitting critical patient information directly to the hospital’s emergency department before arriving at the hospital. Funds are from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s …
Monday, February 25, 2013
Fire and rescue crews were dispatched after two canisters of gas fell off of a loading dock.
Hazmat crews from Montgomery County Fire and Rescue were investigating after two canisters of unknown gas fell off of a loading dock in Silver Spring Monday afternoon, near Home Depot on Broadbirch Drive, a spokesperson for the department reports. Evacuations were not ordered, although some people at nearby businesses and locations were advised to stay away from the containers, said Beth Anne Nesselt, public information officer for Fire and Rescue Services. Crews were dispatched around 3:25 p.m., Feb. 25, to the 2300 block of Broadbirch Drive, near the intersection of Bournefield Way, as a result of the report of the containers of gas falling off of a loading dock.
39.05559
-76.961789
2300 Broadbirch Dr, Silver Spring, MD
/articles/hazmat-crews-investigation-escaped-vapors-near-home-depot
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Thursday, November 8, 2012
County police and fire/rescue personnel return from week helping Sandy victims in New York, where the situation was described as "Katrina-esque."
On Tuesday afternoon, while Montgomery County and the rest of the nation were paying attention to Election Day, 80 Montgomery County fire/rescue and police personnel unceremoniously returned home from spending an exhausting week assisting Hurricane Sandy victims in New York. The Maryland Task Force 1, made up of local medical workers, rescue experts, engineers and dog handlers with search canines, was assembled Sunday afternoon, Oct. 28, and dispatched to Fort Dix, NJ, to await orders, according to Montgomery County Assistant Chief Scott Graham. From there it was a long week of search and rescue and humanitarian relief that Graham says was similar to the situation in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. “I’ve been on the task force since …
Sunday, November 4, 2012
No injuries were reported as a result of the blaze.
Montgomery County firefighters responded to a call on the 7200 block of Garland Avenue Sunday afternoon, where they found and extinguished a kitchen fire, according to the fire department. No injuries were reported as a result of the fire, and the flames did not extend into other areas of the house, though there was smoke throughout. An investigator was called out to the scene, but the cause of the fire was not known at the time of publishing.
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
NIneteen Silver Spring residents were displaced after a falling tree sheared off an apartment building's gas meter and caused a major gas leak.
Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service responded to 371 calls from 5 p.m. Monday to 4 a.m. Tuesday, as Hurricane Sandy brought heavy rain and high winds to the region. Calls for assistance peaked between 8 - 10 p.m. Monday, when personnel responded to 156 calls, according to an MCFRS update. Around 9 p.m., rescue officials said they were handling an increase in requests for assistance with trees and wires down. "Naturally, with the wind we've had and the rain, this is to be expected," said assistant chief Scott Goldstein in a video update. Responders were called out 47 times between midnight and 4 a.m. MCFRS responded to three calls for water rescues from residents trapped in their cars, but all three were out and safe when units …
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Multiple news outlets report the child was sent to a local hospital with injuries.
A 4-year old boy fell from the eighth floor of an apartment building in Silver Spring Thursday afternoon, multiple news outlets report. Fox5 said the boy fell about 80 feet from Park Montgomery Apartments in the 8800 block of Piney Branch Road. A tree helped to break the child's fall, News4 reported. Montgomery County Police said the child was taken to Children's Hospital in serious condition. News4 said that the boy suffered head injuries and a broken femur, and that his injuries may be life-threatening. Police are investigating the fall.
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8800 Piney Branch Rd, Silver Spring, MD
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Wednesday, August 29, 2012
How did the county wind up with an ambulance fee?
Earlier this month, Montgomery County and the Montgomery County Volunteer Fire-Rescue Association announced it had signed an agreement that effectively ended the volunteer firefighters’ fight against an ambulance fee passed by the Montgomery County Council. This is Part Two of a two-part “Q & A” about the fee. Answers are taken from a county website with questions and answers about the new law, from Patch reports on the fee and from other local media, as noted. Click here to read Part One. Part Two discusses how the agreement on the fee came to pass: Q: Why is the county doing this now? A: “Montgomery County is about to be hit by a ‘tidal wave’ from Annapolis,” the county website says. The Maryland General Assembly in May approved a 50-…
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
What does the county's ambulance fee mean for you?
Earlier this month, Montgomery County and the Montgomery County Volunteer Fire-Rescue Association announced it had signed an agreement that effectively ended the volunteer firefighters’ fight against an ambulance fee passed by the Montgomery County Council. In the days following the announcement, county officials worried that their message was not being heard and that some media reports had, in the words of Montgomery Fire Chief Richard Bowers, given “the impression that, starting in January, everyone will have to pay for an ambulance ride in Montgomery County.” “Nothing is further from the truth,” Bowers said in an email to Patch. Bowers referred residents to a county website with information about the fee. The website, at www.…
Monday, August 13, 2012
Volunteers and county reach agreement on funding; fee will take effect Jan. 1.
Montgomery County volunteer firefighters signed an agreement with the county on Monday that volunteers say will avoid a repeat of the 2010 ambulance fee referendum and allow the fee to take effect in January. The County Council approved the fee in May, 18 months after county voters rejected it by a 54-percent-to-46-percent margin in a 2010 ballot question. The county projects that the fee will generate $18 million a year that will go to additional fire and rescue service staffing, training, apparatus, facilities and equipment. “The bottom line is that the residents here in the county will be served much better because of the enhancements that will be made to the fire and rescue service with this EMS reimbursement,” said Montgomery County…
Costco Gas Man
5:28 pm on Tuesday, May 21, 2013
You jest, but that's most likely where It will go. more ›