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BORDENTOWN TOWNSHIP: Firefighters appreciate new safety tools

By Amy Batista, Special Writer
BORDENTOWN TOWNSHIP — Firefighters are feeling safer now thanks to a grant they received that funded the purchase of life-saving equipment.
“Today we are here to receive a grant,” said Chief William Hartman. “It was through a grant written by Firefighter Kyle Asbrand that we were fortunate enough to be chosen.”
The Bordentown Township Fire District No. 2 was awarded an $8,000 grant by the EJA/Capacity Insurance Agency LLC located in Bordentown and Fireman’s Fund Insurance on Aug. 28. The money was used to buy personal safety harnesses and firefighter bailout bag escape systems for each member of the department.
“EJA/Capacity is in our backyard and has always supported us,” Chief Hartman said. “They have always been there for us no matter what we needed.”
Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company is part of a nationwide program and is based in Novato, California.
“We have a very long history of supporting firefighters and safer communities,” said Michelle Dolloff, of the Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company.
The Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company was founded in 1863.
“In 2004 we created our ‘Heritage’ program and what this program does is it empowers our employees and our agents and brokers to award grants to the local fire-fighting community,” she said, adding the grants are awarded for training, equipment, and education.
The “Heritage” program is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year.
“Since 2004, Fireman’s Fund has awarded over $31 million in grants to over 1,200 fire departments in all 50 states,” she said. “In the state of New Jersey, we have awarded over a $1 million and the folks here at the Capacity Group of Companies have awarded over $114,000 in grants. They are significant partner and contributor to us.”
She thanked the EJA/Capacity Insurance Company for “bringing the needs of our Bordentown Fire Department to our attention.”
“We recognize what a great asset that the Bordentown Township Fire District No. 2 provides to the community,” said Senior Vice President Steve Walsh of EJA/Capacity Insurance Agency LLC.
He noted they were “very happy to help out with this program and make your job safer.”
Chief Hartman said that they were “very happy” to be chosen for the grant.
“This item here would have been budgeted in our next budget for purchasing,” he said. “This gives us the luxury of having this now and not waiting.”
He said it is a “necessary piece of equipment.”
“This is a piece of equipment that has become more and more valuable in the days now with fire-fighting becoming as unstable as it is with the construction and everything,” he said. “You never know when that last moment in that room is going to happen to you.”
He noted that this equipment gives firefighters the “opportunity to get out in that last minute.”
“It’s an extra security blanket for them as well as the officers that are outside running the incidents to know that we have that extra chance to get everybody out,” he said.
“This provides another way out for firefighters that may become trapped inside a burning structure,” said Kyle Asbrand, noting the bailout system includes four different parts.
The Sterling F4 escape systems are purchased through Continental Fire and Safety, which is located in Hamilton. The kit contains everything a firefighter needs to get out of an emergency situation fast including 50 feet (15M) of 7.5 mm fire resistant escape tech rope, the F4 escape device, a three-stage carabineer, a new lightning GT hook escape anchor and a low-profile storage bag to hold all of the components. The lightning GT hook integrates a gated hitching slot with a traditional hook anchor, giving firefighters the option of an easy to rig remote anchor instead of having to tie complicated knots in the dark with bulky gloves, according to Continental Fire and Safety Facebook page.
The total cost for the harnesses and bail out kits was $7,400 plus $600 for a full day of training, he added.
“The personal harness straps to the body and will catch them during a fall,” he said. “The bailout kit, which consists of an anchor point which is this hook that can be used inside of a window or wrapped around an object. The rope the firefighter would travel on and a braking device that is hooked to each firefighter’s belt when they escape out of a window their device will catch their weight and hold them in that position until they release the brake and gradually take them down to the ground.”
The kit has 50 feet of rope, which can hold 1,000 pounds and it will exceed any of the top floors of our highest buildings in our town, he added.
“So it will get our firefighters to the ground safely and effectively,” he said.
Next, the firefighters went outside to provide a demonstration to those in attendance by using a prop, which had a window cut out, as firefighter Eric Pullen demonstrated how to hook up the bailout system and bailed out of the window several times.
“The firefighters are going to be crawling to the window because obviously the conditions in the house are bad enough or building, whatever he is in, that he is going to have to be low to the ground and bail out the window,” he said. “Once he finds that window he is going to take that anchoring device out of his pocket and find a safe spot to hook onto. The majority of the time it is probably going to be the corner of a window seal. As he hooks into that, he keeps that firmly planted against the window seal and gets enough rope to get him outside of the building.”
Next, the firefighter will swing out and control his fall.
“Now you can see that device is holding his weight and once he decides that he is ready to go down he is going to slowly squeeze the brake and control that device bringing him all the way to the ground,” he said. “At that point when he gets to the end and on the ground he is out and safe and goes home at night to his family.”
The department is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with 14 career firefighters who respond to calls ranging from medical emergencies, motor vehicle accidents, and general fire calls. They answer around 850 to 900 calls a year.
“We never close,” Chief Hartman said, adding that the crews work 24 hours on and 48 hours off. 