Lodi Masonic Lodge donates to Black Earth Fire

Lodi Valley Masonic Lodge #99 on Tuesday, Feb 14 donated a portable Fire Suppression Tool (FST) to the Black Earth Joint Fire District Fire Department. The device is designed to suppress a fire that is still contained within a structure. It can be deployed by first responders and is designed to control a fire in the all-important early stage. The $950 unit was provided to the Lodi Lodge, which merged several years ago with the Crescent Valley Lodge of Black Earth and Mazomanie, by the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Wisconsin. The Grand Lodge has been providing units to emergency services all over the state this past year. In December the local Lodge donated a unit to the Mazomanie Fire Department and has plans to donate units in the Lodi area as well. The FST is non-pressurized and is deployed manually by pulling two pins and then throwing the device into a burning building. Pulling the pins triggers an internal ignition system, and about eight seconds later, an environmentally-friendly powdered aerosol is generated that fills the fire scene for about 35 seconds, interrupting the bond between the heat and the oxygen in the room and thus suppressing the flames. The website for Fire Suppression Solutions, the company that distributes the tool, indicates a FST will reduce the room temperature by up to 1000 degrees within 35 seconds, preventing flashovers and backdrafts without oxygen depletion. Pictured, the Black Earth Fire Department recently accepted the donation of a Fire Suppression Tool from the Lodi Valley Masonic Lodge #99. Left to right in the front row are Mason Dale Reeve, Lieutenants Cary Severson and Jason Richter, Lodi Valley Master Roger Haarklau, who is presenting the donated tool to Deputy Chief Mitch Hodson, and Captain Bryan Moyer and Lieutenant Andrew Morrow. In the second row, from left, are Masons Greg Flanagan, Scott Anderson and Michael Thumm, Assistant Chief Luke Schoenemann and Captain Matt Kahl. Photo by John Donaldson