Freemasons to donate lifesaving Fire Suppression Grenade

WHAT:  Freemasons to donate FST to Brown Deer Police Department

WHERE:  Brown Deer Village Hall, Board of Trustees Meeting

WHEN:  January 3rd ,2022 at 7:00pm

The Members of James M Hays Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, will be donating a Fire Suppression Tool (FST) sometimes referred to as an “anti-fire grenade” to the Brown Deer Police Department.  The Brown Deer Chief of Police and the Brown Deer Trustees will be present.

Former Milwaukee Fire Department Captain and Master of the Lodge Bob Skaradzinski said, “these things make a giant difference”.  As a retired firefighter, Skaradzinski would often arrive on scene after the Police.  In some cases, the fires had already spread and whole buildings were lost.  “In my years in the fire service, there were many times when police arrive on the scene first, they can just pull the pin and toss it in.  These have saved buildings and since the fires are often more manageable when the firefighters arrive, it keeps our first responders safe as well”.

“We focus our charitable giving in ways that make a giant difference for communities.  In 2018 we donated a AED to Bay View High School and in 2020 it was used and saved a life.  As a retired first responder, this is near and dear to my heart.

After pulling the pin, the device, about the size of a small purse, can drop the temperature by 1000 degrees and put out a fire in a building the size of a small house or garage.  “It’s not Louis Vuitton, but it’s one accessory every squad will want” said Jim McGuigan, Brown Deer Resident and Lodge Secretary.

These FST’s have already saved lives and buildings.  The members of James M Hays Lodge chose the Village of Brown Deer as the recipient of this donation because many of it’s members are from the Brown Deer and Glendale area.  The ancestral home of Hays Lodge was just east of the main entrance to Brown Deer Park.