Fire Destroys Vacant Lisbon Home

Thirty firefighters battled early morning blaze.

An early morning fire destroyed a vacant house in Lisbon today, according to the Howard County Department of Fire and Rescue Services. Department personnel responded to the report of a fire in a single-family house in the 16000 block of Old Frederick Road after a passerby discovered the fire and called 911. Upon arriving, firefighters found the building fully engulfed in flames, according to a statement from HCFRS. As workers prepared to stage an exterior attack on the blaze, the building collapsed. Thirty firefighters worked longer than an hour to get the fire under control, according to the statement. To combat the fire, units also used water from a cistern recently installed near Lisbon Elementary School as part of HCFRS's Rural Water …

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Whodunnit? Local, Federal Authorities Burn a House Down to Find Out

Data gathered in a controlled fire in Ellicott City will be used for years to train firefighters across the country.

Here's the scenario: Firefighters respond to a house fire to find a woman and infant dead. Two men – the woman’s husband and his brother, who lives in the basement – escaped the blaze. They both have different versions of what happened. Who is telling the truth? The case is hypothetical -- laid out by Brian Grove, fire protection engineer with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms’ research laboratory  --  but the questions it poses are a routine part of fire investigations. To help better read the clues left behind by a fire, Howard County Fire and Rescue Monday conducted a fire experiment with ATF during a live burn in Ellicott City.  When investigators arrive on the scene during or just after a fire, they comb over a …

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Ambulances Standby at Football Games for Trial Period

The Howard County Department of Fire and Rescue Services is looking into reducing response times for high school sports emergencies.

Judy and Jim Hess watched as their son, Zachary, lay on the football field with a neck injury during a Reservoir High School football game last year. "Time stood still," recalled Judy. Within minutes, Howard County emergency personnel began treating Zachary, but their first step was getting to the patient. In the crucial moments after Zachary went down, EMTs returning to the Long Reach Fire Department picked up the call and rerouted to the football stadium. "They wouldn’t let us on the field while they worked on him," Judy said. "Thankfully his injuries were minor and he returned to the game the following week." A year later, Howard County rescue personnel have completed a pilot initiative to eliminate that trip to the stadium, by having …

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Watch It Burn: Ellicott City House Set Afire for Safety's Sake (VIDEO)

The fire department held a live burn training operation at a donated house.

It’s not often that firefighters burn a house down, but that’s just what they did over the weekend in Ellicott City.  The “live burn training” was the second such training event that the county has done this year -- just two months after Howard County Fire and Rescue instituted a policy on such training exercises, according to Chief John Jerome, head of HCDFRS education and training.  About 25 firefighters and 12 instructors and safety personnel arrived at the house at 4100 College Ave., before 7 a.m. Saturday to prep it for the burn. The house had been set for demolition, according to HCDFRS spokeswoman Jackie Cutler, and the owner donated it to the department. Anything that could act as an accelerant  -- including carpeting, gas tanks …

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Falling Telephone Pole Injures CSX Worker in Ellicott City

Howard County Fire and Rescue Services worked to transport the worker from ground 150 feet higher than the railroad.

A telephone pole fell on a CSX rail worker Thursday afternoon, causing serious injuries, Howard County Fire and Rescue services said. Department spokesperson Jackie Cutler said a group of CSX workers had traveled up a 150-foot embankment near the railroad tracks by Old Frederick Road in Ellicott City, and the pole fell about 2:30 p.m., injuring the worker's leg and back. “It’s not the most accessible location,” Cutler told Patch. She said the man’s injuries were serious but non-life threatening, and that rescue personnel transported him down the embankment and to University of Maryland Shock Trauma. Railroad service was stopped in the area until 5 p.m. and traffic was diverted away from roads close to the scene. According to CSX, the …

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Howard County Fire and Rescue Commemorates Sept. 11 with Pear Trees

The Howard County Department of Fire and rescue held a brief ceremony Sunday to mark the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. At the same time, memorial pear trees were planted at fire and police stations across the county.

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Ellicott City, Lisbon Volunteer Fire Fighters Honored

Howard County Department of Fire and Rescue Services held a portrait unveiling for five fire fighters who lost their lives while serving.

Howard County Department of Fire and Rescue Services honored volunteer fire fighters who have died in the line of duty with portraits painted by a recent Ellicott City high school graduate. At a ceremony on Monday's James N. Robey Public Safety Training night, portraits of five men from the Ellicott City and Lisbon branches were unveiled before families of the fallen, current members of the volunteer fire departments from Howard County, and the community. Each of the men lost his life in the 1950's and 60’s.  The portraits of Capt. Charles Ditch, Lt. Joseph Stigler, firefighter William Brightwell, firefighter Robery Clary and firefighter Raymond Mills will now be part of the history of the HCDFRS, as well as reminders of what the men …

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Dog Day Afternoon for Chester the Pup at Howard County Lake (With Video)

Rescue teams arrive after situation turns hairy at Lake Elkhorn.

Sometimes the doggie paddle can only get you so far.  This afternoon, Chester the dog was out in the park when, according to his owner, the pup slipped away from his leash and chased a duck into Lake Elkhorn. Chester didn't catch the duck. Instead, according to Jaqueline Cutler, public information officer at Howard County Fire and Rescue, he got stuck in the thick kelp, swimming in circles, but not able to make it back to shore. After an hour in the lake, Chester's owner decided to call Howard County Fire and Rescue for help. Water technicians Mike Marlatt, Mike Bowen and Mark Plummer arrived on the scene with Capt.  Stephen M. Hardesty, firefighter paramedic Dennis Wenner and firefighter EMT Zach Means. The crews hit the water and headed …

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Chain of Survival

Ginnie Gick "dropped," after going into cardiac arrest in her home. Thanks to her child's quick-thinking, a patient 911 dispatcher, a husband who took charge and a speedy fire crew, Gick can spread the importance of CPR.

The May 5 Howard County Fire and Rescue Awards Ceremony brought survirors and their rescuers together. 

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