Every career firefighter in the East Haven Fire Department is getting a personal escape system, the rope-and-hook “bailout kit” a firefighter can use to get out a window when fire cuts off the stairs or hallway behind them.
The department announced Monday, Oct. 19, that it received a $23,140 grant from two national firefighter charities, the Lt. Joseph P. DiBernardo Memorial Foundation and the Leary Firefighters Foundation, to buy the kits. Once the equipment arrives, firefighters will get hands-on training in how to deploy it, according to the department’s announcement, as reported by Patch and Daily Dispatch.
What a bailout kit does
A personal escape system is worn by the firefighter and is designed for emergency self-rescue when the normal ways out of a burning building are no longer reachable. In practice that usually means a firefighter trapped on an upper floor who has to anchor a line and go out a window.
The grant pays for one for each career firefighter in the department.
What the chief and mayor said
“This grant represents an important investment in the safety of our firefighters. Providing every career firefighter with a personal escape system, along with the training to deploy it effectively, gives our members another critical tool when faced with a life-threatening emergency,” Fire Chief Matt Marcarelli said. “We are extremely grateful to both foundations for their commitment to firefighter safety.”
“Protecting the men and women who put their lives on the line for our community must always be a priority,” Mayor Joseph A. Carfora said. “This award helps ensure our firefighters have access to critical lifesaving equipment and the training they need to use it. We thank both foundations for their generosity and for helping East Haven continue to invest in the safety of our first responders.”
The department also thanked both foundations “for their generosity and continued commitment to protecting those who protect our communities.”
The firefighters behind the two foundations
Both charities were started after firefighters died in fires where getting out was the problem.
The Joey D Foundation is named for FDNY Lt. Joseph P. DiBernardo. He was critically injured on Jan. 23, 2005, the day New York firefighters call “Black Sunday,” when firefighters trapped on an upper floor of a burning Bronx building were forced to jump. Two firefighters died that day. Lt. DiBernardo survived the fall with serious injuries and died on Nov. 22, 2011. The foundation in his name buys personal safety systems for fire departments and teaches firefighters how to use them.
The Leary Firefighters Foundation was founded in 2000 by actor Denis Leary after the December 1999 Worcester Cold Storage warehouse fire in Massachusetts, which killed six firefighters, including his cousin, Michael C. Leary.
According to the Joey D Foundation’s grant page, the two groups have partnered since 2014 to provide escape equipment and training to firefighters in New England. The foundation says its grants top out at $25,000 a year, and that award checks are made out to the equipment vendor rather than to the department. Other Connecticut departments on its list of past recipients include Manchester, Norwich, New London and Gales Ferry.
Why it matters at home
Bailout kits are the kind of gear a department hopes never to use, and the training that comes with them is what makes them useful on a bad night.
The department has not said when the kits will be in service. The East Haven Courier will update this story when training is complete.
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