By Maggie LaNoue, Contributing Writer
A $5,000 grant from the Albion Community Foundation has equipped three Albion-area public safety agencies with life-saving technology — and strengthened a partnership that protects residents across a wide swath of Calhoun County.
The Sheridan Township Fire Department, the Albion Department of Public Safety, and the Albion Township Fire Department jointly received the grant during the Foundation’s most recent grant cycle. The total cost of the equipment was $6,200, and the Foundation grant made it possible. The funds were used to purchase an MSA G1 RIT System — RIT standing for Rapid Intervention Team — a specialized piece of equipment designed to provide emergency air supply to firefighters who become trapped or incapacitated inside a burning structure, buying critical time for rescue.
Lieutenant Tyler Collins, Training Officer at Sheridan Township Fire Department, brought the grant to The Recorder’s attention and hosted a recent demonstration at the Sheridan Township station.
“A rapid intervention team consists of a crew of firefighters dedicated to search-and-rescue operations for firefighters who are lost, trapped, injured, or overcome by other means inside a structure fire,” Collins explained.
The three departments form a natural geographic partnership. The city of Albion sits at the center, while Albion Township stretches to the south — its fire station located about 2.3 miles past Riverside Cemetery — and Sheridan Township lies to the north, its station just past the National Guard Armory and over I-94 on 29 Mile Road.
Together, the three agencies protect a combined area of approximately 69 square miles — Sheridan Township covering about 32 square miles to the north, Albion Township covering 33 square miles to the south, and the city of Albion occupying roughly 4.5 square miles at the center, like the hole in a donut.
The agencies are staffed differently. Sheridan Township, which has maintained a fully staffed station since 1965, is the only agency with personnel on site around the clock. The Albion Department of Public Safety also maintains around-the-clock coverage, though its officers are deployed on the road rather than stationed at the firehouse. Its officers are unique in that they serve as both police and firefighters, responding to fire calls as needed. Albion Township relies on paid on-call personnel who balance firefighting with other jobs and careers. Despite these differences, the three agencies work seamlessly together — and regularly assist neighboring communities, including Homer, Parma, Springport, Clarence Township, Concord, Pulaski, and Marengo when needed.
The need for the new RIT system arose from an earlier equipment upgrade. Two years ago, all three agencies received a federal grant through FEMA’s Assistance to Firefighters Grant program to replace their self-contained breathing apparatus — known as SCBAs, or air packs — the equipment firefighters wear to breathe inside a burning structure. The air packs meet current NFPA safety standards, hold 4,500 pounds of pressure, and last between 45 minutes and one hour. Fully equipped, a firefighter entering a structure fire carries 70 to 80 pounds of gear.
The old RIT system was no longer compatible with the new air packs, leaving a critical gap in the agencies’ rescue capability. The MSA G1 RIT System fills that gap. It works as a cascade system — connecting through a universal fitting to any SCBA and delivering a supplemental air supply directly to a downed firefighter, buying the time needed to locate and bring them out safely.
Under current NFPA standards, a low-air alarm sounds when a firefighter’s bottle reaches one-third of its remaining supply — an improvement over the older standard, which did not trigger until one-quarter remained. In an emergency where a firefighter cannot exit, every additional minute matters.
“This system allows us to conduct more aggressive search-and-rescue and fire-suppression operations in the event of a structure fire,” Collins said. “The reassurance that fellow firefighters will respond in an emergency involving one of our firefighters enables us to conduct operations more effectively.”
The equipment is housed at the Sheridan Township station — the only staffed location available around the clock. Sheridan Township also stores the Cyanokit for the eastern half of Calhoun County. The Cyanokit is a fast-acting antidote administered intravenously by on-scene paramedics to treat cyanide poisoning — a serious risk for anyone overcome by smoke inhalation in a structure fire, where burning materials can release toxic gases into the air.
“Having this new RIT pack provides our public safety officers and local township firefighters with an immediate accessible air source if a firefighter becomes trapped, injured or runs out of air during IDLH — Immediately Dangerous to Life or Health — environments,” said Chief Aaron Phipps of the Albion Department of Public Safety.
The RIT system is, at its heart, a teamwork tool. No single firefighter can deploy it alone — it takes a crew working together to reach a downed colleague, connect the supplemental air supply, and bring them out safely. In that sense, it perfectly reflects the philosophy that drives these three agencies: that in an emergency, no one should face it alone. The Albion Community Foundation grant made the equipment possible. The partnership made it meaningful.
This is the first in a series of articles about Albion-area public safety agencies and the communities they serve.
