Mansfield Fire Department receives Personal Safety Systems Grant from the Lt. Joseph P. DiBernardo Memorial Foundation
MANSFIELD, Ohio —
The Lt. Joseph P. DiBernardo Memorial Foundation announced that the Mansfield Fire Department (MFD) would receive Personal Safety Systems (PSS) for its frontline firefighters in 2020 with a monetary value of $8,924.79. Mansfield City Council accepted this donation with gratitude on February 2, 2021.
A PSS is an all-inclusive setup that gives firefighters the capability to bail out of an upper-floor window or evacuate a victim. When used to evacuate a victim, the anchor hook, descent control device, and 50 feet of rope can then be brought back up to the firefighter, and then they can self rescue.
On Jan. 23, 2005, a rapidly advancing fire forced six FDNY firefighters to bail out of a building's fourth floor. Three escaped severe injury. Lt. Curtis Meyran and Firefighter John Bellew died from injuries suffered from the fall; Firefighter Joe DiBernardo died several years later from complications related to his fall injuries.
In 2019, MFD experienced an incident where two firefighters had to bail out of a first-floor window due to extreme heat. This incident brought to our attention that while we have survival training, our firefighters need to be supplemented with personal safety rope systems (PSS) when in similar circumstances.
Recognizing the need, MFD applied for several grants to purchase a PSS for every member on duty. The department will continue to seek grant funding to complete the project in 2021.
. Established in Joey's memory in 2013, the Lt. Joseph P. DiBernardo Memorial Foundation has improved firefighter safety and reduced line-of-duty deaths and injuries with its grant program. The Lt. Joseph P. DiBernardo Memorial Foundation grant program has awarded over $610,000 to departments in need in its seventh year.
To learn more about the Lt. Joseph P. DiBernardo Memorial Foundation's grant program for personal life safety rope systems or to apply, visit www.joeydfoundation.org.