WATCH: High-Risk Rescue After Car Over Bridge (Simulation)

Fire and rescue workers show their stuff in a practice rescue in a car-off-a-bridge scenario.

The special operations unit of the Howard County Department of Fire and Rescue Services practiced a high-risk technical rescue in which rescue personnel were lowered more than 100 feet below a Route 32 bridge near the Cedar Lane exit in Columbia. For three hours Wednesday, rescue members strapped into climbing gear and went down below the bridge to secure a patient–another rescue member for this purpose–into a stretcher, and scaled back up to the bridge with a pulley system. "This is critical because these types of incidents are what we determine to be very high-risk, very low-frequency in nature," said Gordon Wallace, a spokesman for the county fire and rescue service. "The most realistic training we can get our members for this type of …

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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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Early Morning Fire Displaces One Columbia Resident

Fire in the 10500 block of Cross Fox Lane was contained to one apartment.

An early morning apartment building fire today in the 10500 block of Cross Fox Lane displaced one resident of the unit involved in the blaze, according to a press release from the Howard County Department of Fire and Rescue Services. The resident is being treated for injuries that are not life threatening. The injuries are not a result of the fire, according to the statement. Just before 1:30 a.m., HCDFRS crews responded to the call of a fire in a three-story apartment building to find flames coming from a second-floor apartment. The fire was quickly extinguished and was contained to the apartment where it started, according to the statement. The injured person, the sole occupant of the apartment, was transported to a local hospital by …

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Ellicott City House Fire Planned for Today

The Fire Department is conducting live training today.

  If you're in Ellicott City today and see smoke near College Avenue, don’t be alarmed. It’s probably just a house on fire.  The Howard County Department of Fire and Rescue Services is conducting a live fire training, beginning at about 7 a.m. today and scheduled to last until about 3 p.m. During that time, according to HCDFRS spokeswoman Jackie Cutler, a house will be set on fire and firefighters will set about extinguishing the blaze. “We want our firefighters to be as experienced as possible,” Fire Chief William Goddard said in a statement. “These types of progressive training scenarios expose our personnel to more realistic fire conditions and building layouts. It is critical that our firefighters experience as realistic as possible …

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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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Crew Rescues Woman After Vehicle Crashes Into Pool

Rescue officials said the vehicle traveled down a 100-foot embankment before crashing into a swimming pool.

A vehicle carrying one passenger crashed into a pool after traveling down a 100-foot embankment near the 6600 block of Carlinda Avenue in Columbia, according to a county press release. Howard County Fire and Rescue Services responded to an incident at about 1:30 a.m. Saturday to assist police and found a driver trapped in a vehicle, which was submerged in a swimming pool. Personnel accessed the driver with ladders and a rope rigging system, and found the elderly woman conscious but disoriented in water up to her chest, according to county fire spokesperson Eric Proctor. A unit transported the patient to University of Maryland Shock Trauma, and her status was "critical but stable" as of 11 a.m. today, said fire spokesperson Jackie Cutler.

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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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