Halfway Assists Hagerstown and State Fire Marshals with Unearthed Explosives

On the morning of September 7th, Halfway was alerted to assist State and City Fire Marshals out off of Wesel Boulevard in Hagerstown. Construction workers came across a suspicious item while working on a storm retention pond behind Sam’s Club. City Fire marshals investigated and upon arrival made the request for the Maryland State police Bomb Squad from the State Fire Marshals Office.

Halfway Engine 261 and Medic 269 were dispatched to assist with units from the Hagerstown Fire Department. Bomb Technicians from state arrived and examined the explosives and, after an extensive evaluation, concluded the safest and most effective way of rendering the explosive material safe was to conduct an onsite emergency disposal. Hagerstown and Halfway Fire Crews along with Hagerstown City Police and Washington County Fire Police worked to assure Sam's Club and nearby hotels were evacuated to ensure the public was safe, and just before 3:00 p.m., the detonation occurred.

Crews from Halfway were committed for about five and a half hours assisting on the incident. This was one of 17 calls of service Halfway responded on that day. Thanks to our career and volunteer personnel, all calls were covered and no calls for service were missed.