Cabot donates to local fire co’s

BY STACI WILSON

Cabot Oil & Gas hosted local volunteer fire companies, April 25-26 in Dimock and Harford, presenting them with about $10,000 worth of equipment and supplies.

Cabot’s Bill desRosiers said that with drilling on the upswing – the company has three rigs in the county – they wanted to continue to build on the relationships with the fire companies.

At the Harford event, Brody Webster, Cabot’s Safety & Environment manager, reviewed some safety protocol for the first responders. Natural gas at the sites is not odorized, he said, and volunteers might not know they are immersed in it if they are there.

Webster also said that in the event of an emergency at a site, Cabot would like to participate as much as possible and went over emergency precautions in place at each site, including 24 hour a day remote monitoring.

Cabot worked with Taylor Rental BX3 to put together the items donated to each company. The donation included a four gas meter, a versatile but rugged portable light, road signs, emergency flares, spill pads, safety cones, and other items frequently used by the fire companies.

Philip McKeon, of Taylor Rental, offered up the services of the company to the local firefighters. “If resources are available, we will help out in any way,” he said. He said the company would look to partner with them to purchase equipment and supplied. “We will try to do what we can to help you out,” he said.

Cabot spokesman George Stark said that some of the items the fire companies received were things they would not receive a reimbursement for, like spill pads and flares. “Our goal is to make sure you have what you need,” he said.

With gas development, along with natural gas available in some local communities, Stark said volunteers could be rushing into a building with natural gas. “We want to make sure you have the resources you need,” he said.

Dave Derrick, of Great Bend Fire, said all of the items the companies received were going to be helpful to the volunteer organizations. The four-gas meter, he added, was a “great asset.”

Motor vehicle accidents, Derrick said, account for 50 to 60 percent of his fire company’s call outs, so they are always in need of road cones and flares.