By SUE SUCHYTA
Sunday Times Newspapers
MELVINDALE – The Community Emergency Response Team and the Fire Department received year-end charitable contributions from Marathon Petroleum LLC.
CERT received $1,750, while the department received $2,000. The City Council acknowledged the donations at its meeting Wednesday.
Marathon’s local offices are at 1300 S. Fort St. in Detroit near the Melvindale city limits.
The CERT program teaches people about disaster preparedness, including basic disaster response skills like fire safety; light search and rescue; and disaster medical operations.
Neighborhood CERT members can use their specialized training to help neighbors and co-workers during a crisis and in its aftermath. It encourages a hands-on, local level of participation and urges residents to take a more active role in preparing their community. The program is administered by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Fire Chief Dan Wilhelm said its funding would be allocated for a new gas detector. Portable gas detectors provide protection from combustible gases and vapors, oxygen hazards and toxic gases.