Business Thanks Huntingtown VFD With Equipment Gift

Story by Carol Havart (Calvert Recorder Newspaper)
Photo Courtesy of Darwin Weigel (Calvert Recorder Newspaper)

"A Huntingtown businessman, whose workshop was destroyed by a fire this winter, thanked firefighters for helping save his business by giving them a useful piece of equipment as a sign of appreciation.

The fire, which was ignited by debris next to a woodstove in the workshop at L. J. Elter & Son power equipment and small engine repair business at Emmanuel Court in Huntingtown on Jan. 6, could have burnt the office and warehouse on either end of the workshop, destroying the entire business, said business owner Lenny Elter.

"They were able to get the fire out. They were on it fast. They basically saved the business," Elter said.

On Friday, Elter shook the hands of firefighters from the Huntingtown Volunteer Fire Department, thanking them personally while presenting them with a vent saw.

"I don't know how you knew we needed one of those. We just burnt one up, that's no joke. That's fabulous," said Assistant Chief Mike Montgomery, who added that he was just pricing them and they were more than $1,000.

"You talk about the Lord knowing things," said Montgomery, the scene commander at Elter's business fire.

Vent saws are used to cut through building roofs to let heat, smoke and toxic gases out of a burning building and help with visibility, said firefighter/EMT Paul Robinson.

"It doesn't take long for it to get trashed" or to dull a blade, he said.

"Nobody has ever donated equipment like that," said Chief Jonathan Riffe, acknowledging the department has received monetary donations from citizens.

"Thanks, this is great," Riffe said looking at the saw.

Elter said, "You guys saved more than that — 20 to 30 fold."

The Huntingtown VFD was at the business six minutes after the call was placed, Elter said, and other county fire departments were on the scene shortly afterwards. His business wants to thank all the firefighters, but Elter said he wanted to also offer a piece of equipment to Huntingtown in gratitude of their service that saved his business, keeping about 20 people employed.

"Huntingtown is our first responder. You can't do it for everybody, but you can do it for your first," Elter said.

Since Elter is in the small equipment business he said he thought of purchasing a vent saw since "they're always breaking and wearing out."

The business, in Huntingtown since 1978, never had to close, but Elter said he missed two weeks doing repairs in the workshop.

Volunteers from St. John Vianney Roman Catholic Church in Prince Frederick helped turn part of the warehouse into a workshop, expediting the creation of a new workshop area.

Maryland deputy fire marshals Don Brenneman and Sander Cohen, who investigated the fire, estimated the damage to be $150,000, noting an activated smoke detector at the time of the fire.

The one-alarm fire brought 49 firefighters from Huntingtown, North Beach, Dunkirk, Prince Frederick, St. Leonard and Solomons volunteer fire departments to extinguish the fire in 30 minutes."

Story Link: http://www.somdnews.com/stories/03312010/recmor140621_32191.shtml