October 7, 2025 • 39 mins
Ken Hacker from the Morgantown Utility Board with a project update.
Martin Howe from the United Way of Harrison and Doddridge Counties on their campaign kickoff and "Plane Pull.
Morgantown Fire Department Chief Gary Freshour and Fire Marshal Jason Quinn on Fire Prevention Week.
Martin Howe from the United Way of Harrison and Doddridge Counties on their campaign kickoff and "Plane Pull.
Morgantown Fire Department Chief Gary Freshour and Fire Marshal Jason Quinn on Fire Prevention Week.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
This is the Talk of the Town from Morgantown to Kluksburg.
If it's happening, we're talking about it. Call the show
toll free at one eight hundred seven sixty five eight
two five five. Now Here is your host for the
Talk of the Town, Mike Nolting.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Good Tuesday morning, it is nine oh six in the
University City Clyde. You're with us, Welcome to Talk of
the Town. I'm Mike Nolting and on social media you'll
find me out on x as your news guy and
producing the program. Today, we have Ethan Collins. Now. Ethan
is at eight hundred seven sixty five eight two five five,
(00:47):
And of course we encourage you to take advantage of
the text line that number three oh four Talk three
oh four. You can share your thoughts as we make
our way through the program today. To start things off
at nine point thirty, we'll be speaking with an engineer
from the Morgantown Utility Board Can't Hacker. Kent is going
(01:08):
to take us around the community and we're gonna get
an update on all of the major projects that MUB
is involved with around the community. Coming up at nine
point thirty up down at the North Central West Virginia Airport.
This morning, the Harrison Doddridge County United Way is holding
an airplane pull. We're going to be speaking with Martin
(01:30):
Howe with the United Way. We're gonna get some details
about that event. And we also have the City of
Morgantown Fire and Marshall Jason Quinn coming on board and
we're gonna be talking about Fire Prevention Week that is
this week. Let's take a look at a couple of headlines.
Oh and by the way, Morgantown City Council they'll be
(01:52):
holding the regular meeting and plus then a special meeting
this evening as well. Now they will be meeting with
mon County Commissioners. Going to be talking about the airport.
I think we spoke briefly about this on Monday, but
they're going to be talking about the airport. They're going
(02:13):
to be talking about some additional economic projects and opportunities
such as Lower Greenmont, the Warth South High Street, beach
Urst Avenue, and then sandwiched in the middle is a
discussion about the East End Village project. Now that's the
ten acres of property that's being redeveloped inside the City
(02:36):
of Morgantown. And set to be a mixed use development.
One new item on the agenda for today under New
Business that meeting tonight seven o'clock Morgantown City Council Chambers
on Spruce Street. They'll be taking the final step and
approving the financing to renov eight and upgrade the lower
(03:00):
portion of Morella Park. They move the pool up to
the top of the park. Completed those renovations last year.
Now this project will let's see, it looks like they're
going to finance about eleven million dollars in bonds through
the Land Reuse Committee Commission rather and the project includes
(03:23):
six new tennis courts, six new pickleball courts, a new
basketball court, a twenty seven thousand foot square twenty seven
thousand square foot artificial turf field and adventure skate park
on the side of the former Morella Park pool, and
two new standalone restroom facilities. Renovation of the Morilla Center
(03:45):
and that will include lighting another infrastructure that they need
in order to support the new park amenities. That project
will be financed with the Building Commission Lease revenue bonds.
There you go, I got that right now. They'll be
repaid from Bopark's regular allocation of sales tax funds. The
(04:06):
project is expected to cost no more than eleven million
dollars that'll be designed by the Thrasher Group. Information from
the council packet says that the city expects to finance
about ten million, four hundred and sixty thousand, one hundred
dollars for that project. And once again, the special meeting
(04:28):
with the Mont County Commission that is set to get
underweight at five thirty. The regular proceedings are scheduled to
get underway at seven. Of course, we know that by
the time they have a special meeting with the Mont
County Commission, looks like you might have a couple of
executive sessions in there with additional economic projects and the
East End village projects. So you know, maybe don't count
(04:52):
on a seven o'clock sharp start time for their regular meeting,
but we'll we'll keep an eye on that in certainly
provide a readout just as quickly as we can. One
important traffic note, The doh is planning to closed I
seventy nine northbound at the I sixty eight interchange tonight.
(05:13):
That's that'll be just north of the Uffington Bridge. They
are set to start that at ten PM and crews
are replacing an impact attenuator. Those are those, I guess,
the units of rubber in caston guardrail that you see
at the end of one of those barrier walls sections.
(05:33):
So if you do, God forbid, happen to hit that
barrier wall, you don't hit the wall, you hit what
is called an impact attenuator. Now that closure is set
to last from ten tonight until one am. The detour
will direct northbound traffic off I sixty eight to exit
(05:55):
through Morgantown. Those motorists will then have the option they
can rejoin I seventy nine in either Star City or
west Over. But hopefully they'll have that done by about
one o'clock in the morning. Now, I guess I've seen
this done before, and hopefully what they can do is
maybe bring one flatbed truck into unhook, lift the damaged
(06:21):
one on to have a clean one on maybe the
next truck, and load that down into place, bolt it
down and you're good to go. Of course, it's not.
It's never never that simple.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
Join the conversation at one eight hundred and seven sixty
five eight two five five. This is the talk of
the town.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
Good Tuesday morning. It's nine seventeen, partner cloudy sixty nine
in the University City. I'm Mike Nolting Metro News. ACI
Weather says, today looks like we're going to get some
much needed rain and a high temperature of seventy four degrees.
We keep our eyes on that for you. On the phone,
we've got Morgantown Utility board engineer Kent Hacker. Good morning, Kent.
(07:17):
How are you?
Speaker 3 (07:19):
Good morning, Mike. I'm doing well. How are you this morning?
Speaker 1 (07:21):
Hey?
Speaker 2 (07:21):
Pretty good? Pretty good? You got your slide rule ready
to go?
Speaker 3 (07:26):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (07:26):
Absolutely, okay, good deal. Well, Hey, Kent, first off, thanks
for joining us this morning. I do appreciate that. But
where I'd like to start is on popein No Run,
if you will, because I believe, you know it's it's
hard to believe, but now I think it's been about
three years ago in June we had two very very
(07:50):
serious rain events that flooded the residents in that area.
And now I believe there's some relief.
Speaker 3 (07:58):
We sure hope. So yes, we finally got that project
wrapped up, the stream gratings finally done, the sewer has
been replaced. We were into everything getting revegetated and yeah,
hoping for a lot of good things here of a project.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
And then, of course the important part about that project
is well, I guess for the residents obviously, but the
other part I think it's important to mention is that
this was a partnership between the Morgantown Utility Board, City
of Morgantown in Montingelia County in order to bring some
relief to those folks.
Speaker 3 (08:40):
Yeah, each mont County Commissioning the City of Morgantown contributed
a million dollars. The contract was almost three and a
half million, so mother is going to be into it
for at least a million and a half and very
very valuable partnership, much appreciated from those entities, and I
(09:04):
just goes to show the value that they saw with
a project like.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
This in town.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
Have you heard anything about its possible effectiveness yet?
Speaker 3 (09:16):
We monitored through some of the few rain events, but
I don't think that we've had anything really of any
size since it's been complete. We had a few during
like the first half of the year it rained every day,
and then we went into a drought. And now I
guess we're looking for some rain later this afternoon, but
(09:37):
we will definitely keep an eye on it.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
Closely, Okay, you know Kent. Yeah, we've got Ken Hacker,
MUB engineer with us. We're talking getting an update on
MUB projects. I was really shocked and surprised, I think
it was maybe February or March to see that the
Cheat Lake Wastewater Treatment plant that they were still able
(10:00):
to get some things done and make some progress, because
I thought that between the extreme cold weather and then
the extreme amounts of precipitation that we got would just
would just sink largely at this point what would be
a dirt work project. But I guess talk a little
bit about the perseverance of the contractor who this is
(10:23):
their first project here in the Morgantown area.
Speaker 3 (10:27):
Absolutely, Yeah, Meely and Meely and Sons is our contractor
about I believe Braddock Pa And Yeah, they proved their
experience with dirt work through the first few months of
this year have to deal with so much rain and
that they did a quite a phenomenal job with that
was able to make a lot of progress. Because you're right,
(10:49):
this first phase of it was largely a dirt moving project,
which the majority of that is now complete.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
So I got to ask you, Kent, what's the secret?
Do you just keep a big four wheel drive John
Deer tractor with a disc up there? I mean, really,
how do you do it?
Speaker 3 (11:09):
They had methods in place with the burning water where
it needed to go to sort of avoid the critical
areas they were working in, and then you know they
did rolling in and compacting the dirt to keep the
water run off going to their erosion control bnps. And
(11:30):
it wasn't their first rodeo, so to speak, as far
as dirt moving goes, so they knew what they were
doing and just kept right at it.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
That's good. So in terms of the project schedule, are
we on schedule or what does that look like?
Speaker 4 (11:47):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (11:47):
Yeah, project schedule. They put in some long days in
some long weeks and have made up a lot of
time that they lost through some of those rain events
where we're pretty close to one schedule. I think we're
about twenty five percent complete with the project right now,
So soon you'll start seeing structures being built up out
of the ground. Those are foundations and things are getting
(12:09):
poured currently, and you should see some things as far
as a plant construction progressing here rather quickly.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
And refresh my memory what is the the budgeted cost
and the estimated completion date? Because before you mentioned anything,
it's really important to understand that this is a multi month,
multi year project and a whole lot of things can change.
Speaker 4 (12:40):
It is.
Speaker 3 (12:40):
It's a multi year project. It was scheduled for thirty months,
I believe was what the construction schedule's playing for. And
the contract with Mealy and Mealy is just over thirty
six million dollars. So yeah, quite a large project that's
going to spend a couple of years here with us.
Speaker 2 (13:02):
Okay, Now, when somebody like Mealy and Mealy come in,
do they try to get some local labor operators things
like that?
Speaker 3 (13:11):
Uh? Yeah, yeah, we've seen some local you know, different
trades going in. But again, yeah, stuff is just getting started.
Up to this point, it's been mainly just dirt work,
which they did in house with their own forces.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
Okay, Now out to the western end, you've got some
boring projects out there to get to expand I guess
the water and sewer capability out of myland park. What
can you tell us about those? Uh?
Speaker 3 (13:40):
Not much. I'm not involved with those first hands, so
I don't have any details on that.
Speaker 2 (13:45):
Oh Okay, all right, Well, leave it to me to
pick the one that you're not ready to talk about.
Speaker 3 (13:51):
Huh, sorry about that.
Speaker 2 (13:52):
No, that's okay, that's okay. Well then you take over, Kent.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
I just appreciate the time to you know, let us
come on here and give you some updates on some
projects we got.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
Absolutely and as always, it's certainly a pleasure to have
you on the program, Kent. And uh, let's see. I
guess moving forward, certainly be increased traffic out at Cheat
Lake because as you said, they're going to be building structures.
That means a lot of concrete trucks and things like that.
Speaker 3 (14:27):
Correct, correct, Yeah, They're they're going to really get into
some pretty heavy concrete pours here very soon. So yeah,
long Sunset Beach. Sure you're going to see a lot,
probably a lot more construction traffic in that area.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
Yeah, I think. Yeah, that project will not winter, will it.
They'll work through.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
The window, correct, Correct, I expect them to just work
year round here.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
Okay, all right, good deal, Hey, Kent, Uh, don't I
guess keep yourself busy today.
Speaker 3 (14:55):
Okay, we'll do, we'll do all right.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
Absolutely, Thank you very much, Kent. Hacker with the Morgantown
Utility Board, and certainly great news for the people over
on Popeno Run because we certainly saw how those reign
events certainly affected the people in that area, both in
the city and in the county. And let's not forget
(15:21):
that that was some coronavirus relief money as well going
to work for our community. Let's take a look at
a couple of headlines, and then when we come back,
we're gonna learn about the airplane pull that's happening at
the North Central West Virginia Airport. And that will be
the next hour. But state lawmakers are wrapping up interim
(15:44):
committee meetings today. The Joint Committee on Flooding is set
to get an update on flood recovery efforts in Marion
County today. I believe that happens at just about two
o'clock this afternoon. We'll be rolling on that in order
to get you some updates there. And the State Board
of Educations asking the State Supreme Court to overturn a
(16:07):
new state law that requires school board policy decisions to
be approved by the state legislature before the final The
school board says no hearings needed ask the court to
follow precedent. You can read more about that particular story
at wvmetronews dot com. Coming up next, going to spend
(16:29):
a few minutes with Martin Howe beginning at ten am
this morning on the grounds of the North Central West
Virginia Airport, the Doddridge Harrison County or I'm sorry, the
Harrison and Doddridge County United Way. They're putting together teams
of twenty people. Now, each team's goal is to raise
two thousand dollars and then what they're going to do
(16:50):
is they're going to pull an airplane. You've got twenty
teammates and the awards and bragging rights are going to
be awarded to number one, the team with the fastest pull.
The second category will be the most team spirit, and
that'll be judged on costumes, chants, and flair encouragement. So
(17:16):
that'll be interesting. And then the top front raisers, of course,
will be recognized, and that is happening next hour at
the North Central West Virginia Airport. It'll be interesting to
find out because I believe that the type of aircraft
they're going to be pulling, at least I hope the
type of aircraft they're going to be pulling is the
(17:38):
what is that the fifty six passenger regional jet that
flies Allegiance out of north Central West Virginia Airport where
we'll find out coming up next with Martin Howe. And
also would like to add that the Harrison Doddridge County
United Way campaign chair this year is Senator Ben Queen's wife,
(18:00):
Meredith Queen, and Meredith, I believe is going to be
on the program sometime next week. We'll keep you up
to speed and informed as to win that will be.
Also this morning, we'll be talking with Morgantown Fire Marshall
Jason Quinn. This is fire Prevention Week, and we'll be
(18:21):
talking to Jason about some of the things that you
need to do. And I'm thinking that even before Jason
gets here, a couple of things that you might want
to take a look at is maybe getting your furnace serviced,
maybe getting your chimney cleaned. And certainly I'm sure he's
going to have all kinds of rules about extension cords
(18:43):
and air filters and all kinds of things like that.
So we'll catch up with Jason Quinn, Morgantown Fire Marshall
coming up next. Of course, that's after we speak with
the Harrison Doddridge County United Way about their airplane pull.
And don't forget the I seventy nine closure this evening
(19:06):
northbound north of the Uffington Bridge. That'll last from ten
pm until one a m. Will cruise do some guardrail
repairs there, So keep that in mind. And if you
know anybody that will be driving through the evening, you
want to be sure and let them know so they
don't get caught in that, because that will be a
(19:27):
complete closure. Right now, partly cloudy and seventy degrees in
the University City.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
Now back to the talk of the town.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
Good Tuesday morning, partly cloudy, seventy in the University City.
Glad that you're with us down on the grounds of
the North Central West Virginia Airport getting ready to pull
a plane. And on the phone, we've got Martin Hout
with the Harrison Doddridge County United Way. Martin, good morning, sir,
How are you Good morning?
Speaker 3 (20:13):
How are you doing?
Speaker 2 (20:14):
I'm doing great, Thank you very much. Okay, first off,
we've got to answer the first question, what is the
nomenclature of the plane that's going to be pulled?
Speaker 4 (20:25):
So the plane came about with one of our board
members who's an assistant director here at the North Central
West Virginia Airport, Sean Long, to pull a plane for
fundraising for the United Ways, also a board member. It's
an excellent idea. So we've worked together to put this together,
to get a jet airliner and to get teams together
(20:47):
and pull it.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
Do you know how much it weighs?
Speaker 4 (20:52):
I don't. We're not sure which plane we're actually getting
at this moment. They're working on it now and we're
going to try to get it over here Asa.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
Okay, Now, how many teams do you have out there? Martin?
Speaker 4 (21:04):
Right now, we're going to have most likely six teams
between ten thirty and twelve to pull.
Speaker 2 (21:11):
Okay, and how far do they have to pull?
Speaker 4 (21:15):
So they can pull it as far as they can
with a maximum of twelve feet, we'll stop them so
they are they're lucky enough to get it moving, they
can pull it up to twelve feet.
Speaker 2 (21:24):
Okay. Now what kind of training have you witnessed going
on among these teams?
Speaker 4 (21:30):
Well, I've witnessed a video from the Rustic Mechanicals, who
is a Shakespeare troop, and they've been pulling wagons and
doing some other things for their exercise.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
Okay, all right, okay, the inside track is with you, Martin.
Who is your pick to win this?
Speaker 4 (21:54):
I think it's going to be either the rustic mechanicals
or the council crew. And the council crew is made
up of municipal elected leaders who've all come together to
pull in the same direction.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
And let's not forget that the direction that we're pulling
in is education, health, safety net and financial stability for
the Harrison and Doddridge County community. Certainly a worthy.
Speaker 4 (22:19):
Cause, absolutely absolutely, and the true winner of this is
the United Way and all the seventeen agencies that we
serve on a daily basis.
Speaker 2 (22:29):
Now, tell me about your campaign. It kicks off today.
What's your goal, who's the chair? Things like that.
Speaker 4 (22:36):
So today is the kickoff of the campaign. Meredith Queen
is our campaign chair, and our goal is seven hundred
and eighty thousand dollars.
Speaker 2 (22:45):
Okay, perfect, all right, Martin. Well, we'll keep your finger
on the pulse and maybe you could send me a
picture of the pulling if you don't mind.
Speaker 4 (22:55):
We will try to get you a picture. I appreciate
that very much, and thank you for having me on.
Speaker 2 (22:59):
Absolutely Martin, you take care of yourself well. This week
is fire prevention Week across the state of West Virginia,
and when we come back, we're going to be speaking
with Morgantown Fire Department Chief Gary fresh Hour and city
fire Marshall Jason Quinn. That's coming up next on Talk
of the Town AM fourteen forty FM one oh four
(23:19):
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about your town. Now back to the talk of the town.
Speaker 2 (27:38):
Good Tuesday morning. It is a nine forty two partner,
cloudy and seventy in the University City. The Metro Newsaki
Weather does say the chance of rain this afternoon is
ninety percent. We'll be sure and keep an eye on that.
Now in studio we've got Morgantown Fire Chief Gary fresh
Hour and we have the Fire Marshall Jason Quinn with us.
(28:02):
Good morning to both of you, gentlemen. How are we doing?
Are doing great? Thank you very much. Get a little
closer to that if you would please, I'd appreciate that. Now,
let's see, it is fire Prevention Week. So what kinds
of things are we keying in on this year? And
this is Jason Quinn, City Fire Marshal.
Speaker 5 (28:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 9 (28:22):
So every every year the NFPA does a campaign and
a theme, and this year it's lithium ion batteries in
your home and proper techniques and charging and storage and
handling and usage of those types of items.
Speaker 10 (28:38):
And every year since their inception, they've come up with
a different theme every year.
Speaker 2 (28:43):
Yeah. You know, sometimes I've seen those lithium ion batteries
burn and it, you know, it looks almost like a
for lack of a better term, like a box of
ammunition burning, because they seem to pop and throw a
lot of debris and things like that. Is that what
I'm seeing?
Speaker 10 (29:01):
Yeah, it's when a lithium ion battery ignites. It.
Speaker 9 (29:04):
It's called thermal runaway and it's basically an out of
control fire and it's fed with the materials in the
battery and extreme heat.
Speaker 10 (29:15):
Very hard to extinguish.
Speaker 9 (29:16):
Usually takes a lot of water, a lot of cooling
in order to put those fires out.
Speaker 2 (29:21):
Okay, so let's see, I've got my phone right here.
This has a lithium my own battery in it, right, correct, Okay, Okay,
But there are other kinds of lithium my own batteries.
Speaker 9 (29:35):
There's every ev has lithium I own batteries, hoverboards, electric scooters,
electric bikes.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
So they go from the palm of your hand to
something pretty big.
Speaker 1 (29:49):
Correct.
Speaker 2 (29:50):
Okay.
Speaker 8 (29:50):
There's actually twelve different types of chemical makeups within the
lithium ion battery, depending on what the use is. So,
like a lithium balt oxide, which is seen like in
your your telephones, your handheld stuff, and then they have
lithium nickel manganese for like vehicle fires. So there's different
chemical makeups within that blanket of a lithium ion battery.
Speaker 2 (30:14):
Now, is there any one of those mixtures that might
be more volatile than another or are they all equally bad?
Speaker 4 (30:23):
No?
Speaker 8 (30:23):
For sure, like a like an the lithium nickel manganese.
The reason they use it is because it has a
longer life, but it also has a higher discharge and
that's why it can power a vehicle versus a cell phone.
Speaker 2 (30:37):
Okay, yeah, no, So just to just to clarify as
much for me as it is the audience. But when
you talk about a higher discharge, you're talking about the
ability to be able to handle greater amounts of energy, correct, Okay,
and then with that also comes a greater amount of
a risk for fire. Absolutely. Okay. So uh, we're gonna
(31:01):
get to cars here in just a moment. But Jason,
you brought up a great point off the air about
making sure that when you use a lithium ion powered
device that you're using the right power cord, charging cord,
and that you're using something that is legitimate or certified.
Speaker 1 (31:22):
Correct.
Speaker 9 (31:22):
So every cell phone or any device that has these
types of batteries will come with a charger from the factory,
and if you don't use that charger, then that UL
listing or certification that it is obtained is no longer
valid because you're you're using different devices. So it's always
(31:46):
important to use whatever charging cable or device to charge
that came with the device originally.
Speaker 2 (31:54):
Okay, you brought up hoverboards from a few years ago,
and I remember seeing and hearing the stories about people
that would get a give a get a hoverboard and
it would burst into flames. But there might be more
to the story.
Speaker 10 (32:10):
So there were.
Speaker 9 (32:13):
They became a pretty big fad a few years ago,
and it seemed to be a popular Christmas gift. The
problem is they were they were coming from overseas and
they didn't have any type of UL certification.
Speaker 10 (32:26):
And what specifically, like the city of New.
Speaker 9 (32:31):
York, which has probably more high rises than anywhere in
the United States, they were seeing lots of fires that
were occurring where people would ride these things hop on
the elevator. Persons in the elevator. These devices start to
self spontaneously combust and catch fire in the elevators, and
you could go to YouTube and pull up dozens of
(32:52):
videos of elevator fires from lithium my own batteries, and
that really changed the core with UL, which is Underwriter Laboratory,
which is a certification agency to crack down on these
types of imports and things like that.
Speaker 2 (33:09):
Okay, well, what concerns do you have about the modern
day electric bicycle that you see tooling around Because somebody's
got to take that inside or it'll be somebody else's.
Speaker 9 (33:19):
Right, it goes back to originally use the equipment that
came with the bike to charge it. Sometimes it's better
to not immediately throw something charge, let that battery cool
down a little bit. Once it's charged, take it off
the charger once it's fully chargers need to keep it
plugged down.
Speaker 2 (33:38):
Okay, Okay, and now Chief, I'd like for you to
address the larger lithium ion batteries because I think we're
going to break a little bit of news here.
Speaker 1 (33:50):
Yeah, so.
Speaker 8 (33:53):
We are actually going to have a company by the
name of Vehicle Response Training. They're from Minneapois, Minnesota, and
they're going to bring their whole production in for us
at the beginning of December, and we are going to
from that, they're going to train us on vehicle fires,
(34:14):
and then from that we're going to kind of look
and adjust our tactics to those fires. We're going to
look at moving towards a fire blanket which will basically
smother the fire, and then the guys will be able
to lift up the end of it and slide an
(34:35):
aerosol unit that has potassium nitrate in it, and that
displaces the oxygen and it should allow then for the
the integrity of the car to stay together, so people
can potentially salvage what they have left in their vehicles.
Speaker 2 (34:55):
Or even from your standpoint, an investigator like you, I'd
have a little bit more to go on right.
Speaker 1 (35:04):
It.
Speaker 9 (35:06):
When these things burn, they burn out of control. So
another nice benefit of these is the is the the
chemicals that are released during these fires. It'll actually put
our fire firement in less harms way by using these
types of devices.
Speaker 2 (35:25):
I just I find that incredibly fascinating. You've got a
blanket you're gonna throw over an electric car, then you
put an aerosol device in there to put the potassium
nitrate in there to basically starve out the fire, correct,
and and then you just kind of let things cool
and then deal with it from there.
Speaker 1 (35:44):
Correct.
Speaker 8 (35:44):
Yep, And it should, like I said, the a lot
of times with the vehicle fire, once they go, they
really go, you know, because everything's flammable and people, you know,
if you lose your materials that are in your back seat,
in your front seat, all those kind of things. So
anything we can do, it's obviously probably not going to
salvage the actual vehicle, but it should put them to
(36:08):
in a position where, you know, if they have any
possessions inside their vehicle, it should it should help to
save any of that.
Speaker 2 (36:15):
And then the other thing that was eye opening is
that you brought up is that this blanket in system
is not a single use system. Tell us about that part.
Speaker 8 (36:25):
Yeah, So the blankets are I think they're made out
of like a kevlar material, and they're actually intended for
thirty uses before we need to replace them. So now
obviously they're they're quite pricey, but in the process, you know,
when you break it up over thirty times, well then
it seems to be a pretty good investment.
Speaker 2 (36:45):
Sure, And then also when you take a look at
the way, you know, we've got electric busses. I'm sure
a blanket, you know, might not work in that particular scenario,
but with the more applications of battery powered vehicles, certainly
makes sense to come up with some sort of an
alternate solution.
Speaker 8 (37:04):
Yes, for sure, because everything is ever changing and we
have to be ever changing as well.
Speaker 2 (37:11):
And I think from the firefighters standpoint, you know, you're
giving them a tool that is proven to work, Whereas
I think that before, when we're responding to an electric
battery fire, there might have been a lot of questions
as to how to even handle it.
Speaker 8 (37:26):
Absolutely and you just copious amounts of water.
Speaker 2 (37:30):
Yeah yeah, so okay, all right, now, so that's the
battery part, and we've got just a couple of minutes.
But what about the chimney, the furnace, space heater, extension cords.
I know every fire inspector I know loves a good
extension cord.
Speaker 5 (37:47):
Well, no, we don't.
Speaker 9 (37:49):
But you should never use extension cords for permanent use.
They should only be used if you're running a shop
back or running a tool of some sort, and always
plug directly into the wall as far.
Speaker 10 (38:03):
As chimneys, you have to maintain those devices.
Speaker 9 (38:07):
You have to make sure they're kept clean and free
of kreasub build up, or you will have a chimney
fire that will get out of control. Hire a local
HVAC contractor come twice a year, inspect your furnace, air conditioner,
make sure it's running right, boiler systems, whatever you use.
And obviously fire prevention week. I have to say that
(38:30):
we're coming up on daylight Savy's time. So when you
change your clock, change your batteries and your smoke alarms
and your carbon monoxide detectors.
Speaker 2 (38:37):
That's right. And if maybe you just moved in somewhere,
take a walk through the house, make sure that you
do have smoke detectors.
Speaker 9 (38:45):
If if you don't have one, or let's say you
can't afford one, or you know a family that can't
afford one, call us. We have smoke detectors and carbon
oxides that we will come install in your house for you.
Speaker 2 (38:58):
Okay, great, all right, well guys, really do appreciate your time.
Thank you for coming in today. I think I asked
decent questions. I didn't get turned back on anything during
that segment. It's pretty good. Yeah, I'm feeling all right. Okay,
hey you guys have a good day.
Speaker 1 (39:15):
Okay, thanks you too.
Speaker 2 (39:16):
Absolutely, Okay, let's see partner, cloudy seventy degrees in the
University City. We're going to come back and wrap things up,
coming after this on top of the town. AM fourteen
forty f M one oh four point five w AJR
This is the Talk of the Town from Morgantown to Kluksburg.
If it's happening, we're talking about it. Call the show
toll free at one eight hundred seven sixty five eight
two five five. Now Here is your host for the
Talk of the Town, Mike Nolting.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Good Tuesday morning, it is nine oh six in the
University City Clyde. You're with us, Welcome to Talk of
the Town. I'm Mike Nolting and on social media you'll
find me out on x as your news guy and
producing the program. Today, we have Ethan Collins. Now. Ethan
is at eight hundred seven sixty five eight two five five,
(00:47):
And of course we encourage you to take advantage of
the text line that number three oh four Talk three
oh four. You can share your thoughts as we make
our way through the program today. To start things off
at nine point thirty, we'll be speaking with an engineer
from the Morgantown Utility Board Can't Hacker. Kent is going
(01:08):
to take us around the community and we're gonna get
an update on all of the major projects that MUB
is involved with around the community. Coming up at nine
point thirty up down at the North Central West Virginia Airport.
This morning, the Harrison Doddridge County United Way is holding
an airplane pull. We're going to be speaking with Martin
(01:30):
Howe with the United Way. We're gonna get some details
about that event. And we also have the City of
Morgantown Fire and Marshall Jason Quinn coming on board and
we're gonna be talking about Fire Prevention Week that is
this week. Let's take a look at a couple of headlines.
Oh and by the way, Morgantown City Council they'll be
(01:52):
holding the regular meeting and plus then a special meeting
this evening as well. Now they will be meeting with
mon County Commissioners. Going to be talking about the airport.
I think we spoke briefly about this on Monday, but
they're going to be talking about the airport. They're going
(02:13):
to be talking about some additional economic projects and opportunities
such as Lower Greenmont, the Warth South High Street, beach
Urst Avenue, and then sandwiched in the middle is a
discussion about the East End Village project. Now that's the
ten acres of property that's being redeveloped inside the City
(02:36):
of Morgantown. And set to be a mixed use development.
One new item on the agenda for today under New
Business that meeting tonight seven o'clock Morgantown City Council Chambers
on Spruce Street. They'll be taking the final step and
approving the financing to renov eight and upgrade the lower
(03:00):
portion of Morella Park. They move the pool up to
the top of the park. Completed those renovations last year.
Now this project will let's see, it looks like they're
going to finance about eleven million dollars in bonds through
the Land Reuse Committee Commission rather and the project includes
(03:23):
six new tennis courts, six new pickleball courts, a new
basketball court, a twenty seven thousand foot square twenty seven
thousand square foot artificial turf field and adventure skate park
on the side of the former Morella Park pool, and
two new standalone restroom facilities. Renovation of the Morilla Center
(03:45):
and that will include lighting another infrastructure that they need
in order to support the new park amenities. That project
will be financed with the Building Commission Lease revenue bonds.
There you go, I got that right now. They'll be
repaid from Bopark's regular allocation of sales tax funds. The
(04:06):
project is expected to cost no more than eleven million
dollars that'll be designed by the Thrasher Group. Information from
the council packet says that the city expects to finance
about ten million, four hundred and sixty thousand, one hundred
dollars for that project. And once again, the special meeting
(04:28):
with the Mont County Commission that is set to get
underweight at five thirty. The regular proceedings are scheduled to
get underway at seven. Of course, we know that by
the time they have a special meeting with the Mont
County Commission, looks like you might have a couple of
executive sessions in there with additional economic projects and the
East End village projects. So you know, maybe don't count
(04:52):
on a seven o'clock sharp start time for their regular meeting,
but we'll we'll keep an eye on that in certainly
provide a readout just as quickly as we can. One
important traffic note, The doh is planning to closed I
seventy nine northbound at the I sixty eight interchange tonight.
(05:13):
That's that'll be just north of the Uffington Bridge. They
are set to start that at ten PM and crews
are replacing an impact attenuator. Those are those, I guess,
the units of rubber in caston guardrail that you see
at the end of one of those barrier walls sections.
(05:33):
So if you do, God forbid, happen to hit that
barrier wall, you don't hit the wall, you hit what
is called an impact attenuator. Now that closure is set
to last from ten tonight until one am. The detour
will direct northbound traffic off I sixty eight to exit
(05:55):
through Morgantown. Those motorists will then have the option they
can rejoin I seventy nine in either Star City or
west Over. But hopefully they'll have that done by about
one o'clock in the morning. Now, I guess I've seen
this done before, and hopefully what they can do is
maybe bring one flatbed truck into unhook, lift the damaged
(06:21):
one on to have a clean one on maybe the
next truck, and load that down into place, bolt it
down and you're good to go. Of course, it's not.
It's never never that simple.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
Join the conversation at one eight hundred and seven sixty
five eight two five five. This is the talk of
the town.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
Good Tuesday morning. It's nine seventeen, partner cloudy sixty nine
in the University City. I'm Mike Nolting Metro News. ACI
Weather says, today looks like we're going to get some
much needed rain and a high temperature of seventy four degrees.
We keep our eyes on that for you. On the phone,
we've got Morgantown Utility board engineer Kent Hacker. Good morning, Kent.
(07:17):
How are you?
Speaker 3 (07:19):
Good morning, Mike. I'm doing well. How are you this morning?
Speaker 1 (07:21):
Hey?
Speaker 2 (07:21):
Pretty good? Pretty good? You got your slide rule ready
to go?
Speaker 3 (07:26):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (07:26):
Absolutely, okay, good deal. Well, Hey, Kent, first off, thanks
for joining us this morning. I do appreciate that. But
where I'd like to start is on popein No Run,
if you will, because I believe, you know it's it's
hard to believe, but now I think it's been about
three years ago in June we had two very very
(07:50):
serious rain events that flooded the residents in that area.
And now I believe there's some relief.
Speaker 3 (07:58):
We sure hope. So yes, we finally got that project
wrapped up, the stream gratings finally done, the sewer has
been replaced. We were into everything getting revegetated and yeah,
hoping for a lot of good things here of a project.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
And then, of course the important part about that project
is well, I guess for the residents obviously, but the
other part I think it's important to mention is that
this was a partnership between the Morgantown Utility Board, City
of Morgantown in Montingelia County in order to bring some
relief to those folks.
Speaker 3 (08:40):
Yeah, each mont County Commissioning the City of Morgantown contributed
a million dollars. The contract was almost three and a
half million, so mother is going to be into it
for at least a million and a half and very
very valuable partnership, much appreciated from those entities, and I
(09:04):
just goes to show the value that they saw with
a project like.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
This in town.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
Have you heard anything about its possible effectiveness yet?
Speaker 3 (09:16):
We monitored through some of the few rain events, but
I don't think that we've had anything really of any
size since it's been complete. We had a few during
like the first half of the year it rained every day,
and then we went into a drought. And now I
guess we're looking for some rain later this afternoon, but
(09:37):
we will definitely keep an eye on it.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
Closely, Okay, you know Kent. Yeah, we've got Ken Hacker,
MUB engineer with us. We're talking getting an update on
MUB projects. I was really shocked and surprised, I think
it was maybe February or March to see that the
Cheat Lake Wastewater Treatment plant that they were still able
(10:00):
to get some things done and make some progress, because
I thought that between the extreme cold weather and then
the extreme amounts of precipitation that we got would just
would just sink largely at this point what would be
a dirt work project. But I guess talk a little
bit about the perseverance of the contractor who this is
(10:23):
their first project here in the Morgantown area.
Speaker 3 (10:27):
Absolutely, Yeah, Meely and Meely and Sons is our contractor
about I believe Braddock Pa And Yeah, they proved their
experience with dirt work through the first few months of
this year have to deal with so much rain and
that they did a quite a phenomenal job with that
was able to make a lot of progress. Because you're right,
(10:49):
this first phase of it was largely a dirt moving project,
which the majority of that is now complete.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
So I got to ask you, Kent, what's the secret?
Do you just keep a big four wheel drive John
Deer tractor with a disc up there? I mean, really,
how do you do it?
Speaker 3 (11:09):
They had methods in place with the burning water where
it needed to go to sort of avoid the critical
areas they were working in, and then you know they
did rolling in and compacting the dirt to keep the
water run off going to their erosion control bnps. And
(11:30):
it wasn't their first rodeo, so to speak, as far
as dirt moving goes, so they knew what they were
doing and just kept right at it.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
That's good. So in terms of the project schedule, are
we on schedule or what does that look like?
Speaker 4 (11:47):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (11:47):
Yeah, project schedule. They put in some long days in
some long weeks and have made up a lot of
time that they lost through some of those rain events
where we're pretty close to one schedule. I think we're
about twenty five percent complete with the project right now,
So soon you'll start seeing structures being built up out
of the ground. Those are foundations and things are getting
(12:09):
poured currently, and you should see some things as far
as a plant construction progressing here rather quickly.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
And refresh my memory what is the the budgeted cost
and the estimated completion date? Because before you mentioned anything,
it's really important to understand that this is a multi month,
multi year project and a whole lot of things can change.
Speaker 4 (12:40):
It is.
Speaker 3 (12:40):
It's a multi year project. It was scheduled for thirty months,
I believe was what the construction schedule's playing for. And
the contract with Mealy and Mealy is just over thirty
six million dollars. So yeah, quite a large project that's
going to spend a couple of years here with us.
Speaker 2 (13:02):
Okay, Now, when somebody like Mealy and Mealy come in,
do they try to get some local labor operators things
like that?
Speaker 3 (13:11):
Uh? Yeah, yeah, we've seen some local you know, different
trades going in. But again, yeah, stuff is just getting started.
Up to this point, it's been mainly just dirt work,
which they did in house with their own forces.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
Okay, Now out to the western end, you've got some
boring projects out there to get to expand I guess
the water and sewer capability out of myland park. What
can you tell us about those? Uh?
Speaker 3 (13:40):
Not much. I'm not involved with those first hands, so
I don't have any details on that.
Speaker 2 (13:45):
Oh Okay, all right, Well, leave it to me to
pick the one that you're not ready to talk about.
Speaker 3 (13:51):
Huh, sorry about that.
Speaker 2 (13:52):
No, that's okay, that's okay. Well then you take over, Kent.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
I just appreciate the time to you know, let us
come on here and give you some updates on some
projects we got.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
Absolutely and as always, it's certainly a pleasure to have
you on the program, Kent. And uh, let's see. I
guess moving forward, certainly be increased traffic out at Cheat
Lake because as you said, they're going to be building structures.
That means a lot of concrete trucks and things like that.
Speaker 3 (14:27):
Correct, correct, Yeah, They're they're going to really get into
some pretty heavy concrete pours here very soon. So yeah,
long Sunset Beach. Sure you're going to see a lot,
probably a lot more construction traffic in that area.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
Yeah, I think. Yeah, that project will not winter, will it.
They'll work through.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
The window, correct, Correct, I expect them to just work
year round here.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
Okay, all right, good deal, Hey, Kent, Uh, don't I
guess keep yourself busy today.
Speaker 3 (14:55):
Okay, we'll do, we'll do all right.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
Absolutely, Thank you very much, Kent. Hacker with the Morgantown
Utility Board, and certainly great news for the people over
on Popeno Run because we certainly saw how those reign
events certainly affected the people in that area, both in
the city and in the county. And let's not forget
(15:21):
that that was some coronavirus relief money as well going
to work for our community. Let's take a look at
a couple of headlines, and then when we come back,
we're gonna learn about the airplane pull that's happening at
the North Central West Virginia Airport. And that will be
the next hour. But state lawmakers are wrapping up interim
(15:44):
committee meetings today. The Joint Committee on Flooding is set
to get an update on flood recovery efforts in Marion
County today. I believe that happens at just about two
o'clock this afternoon. We'll be rolling on that in order
to get you some updates there. And the State Board
of Educations asking the State Supreme Court to overturn a
(16:07):
new state law that requires school board policy decisions to
be approved by the state legislature before the final The
school board says no hearings needed ask the court to
follow precedent. You can read more about that particular story
at wvmetronews dot com. Coming up next, going to spend
(16:29):
a few minutes with Martin Howe beginning at ten am
this morning on the grounds of the North Central West
Virginia Airport, the Doddridge Harrison County or I'm sorry, the
Harrison and Doddridge County United Way. They're putting together teams
of twenty people. Now, each team's goal is to raise
two thousand dollars and then what they're going to do
(16:50):
is they're going to pull an airplane. You've got twenty
teammates and the awards and bragging rights are going to
be awarded to number one, the team with the fastest pull.
The second category will be the most team spirit, and
that'll be judged on costumes, chants, and flair encouragement. So
(17:16):
that'll be interesting. And then the top front raisers, of course,
will be recognized, and that is happening next hour at
the North Central West Virginia Airport. It'll be interesting to
find out because I believe that the type of aircraft
they're going to be pulling, at least I hope the
type of aircraft they're going to be pulling is the
(17:38):
what is that the fifty six passenger regional jet that
flies Allegiance out of north Central West Virginia Airport where
we'll find out coming up next with Martin Howe. And
also would like to add that the Harrison Doddridge County
United Way campaign chair this year is Senator Ben Queen's wife,
(18:00):
Meredith Queen, and Meredith, I believe is going to be
on the program sometime next week. We'll keep you up
to speed and informed as to win that will be.
Also this morning, we'll be talking with Morgantown Fire Marshall
Jason Quinn. This is fire Prevention Week, and we'll be
(18:21):
talking to Jason about some of the things that you
need to do. And I'm thinking that even before Jason
gets here, a couple of things that you might want
to take a look at is maybe getting your furnace serviced,
maybe getting your chimney cleaned. And certainly I'm sure he's
going to have all kinds of rules about extension cords
(18:43):
and air filters and all kinds of things like that.
So we'll catch up with Jason Quinn, Morgantown Fire Marshall
coming up next. Of course, that's after we speak with
the Harrison Doddridge County United Way about their airplane pull.
And don't forget the I seventy nine closure this evening
(19:06):
northbound north of the Uffington Bridge. That'll last from ten
pm until one a m. Will cruise do some guardrail
repairs there, So keep that in mind. And if you
know anybody that will be driving through the evening, you
want to be sure and let them know so they
don't get caught in that, because that will be a
(19:27):
complete closure. Right now, partly cloudy and seventy degrees in
the University City.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
Now back to the talk of the town.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
Good Tuesday morning, partly cloudy, seventy in the University City.
Glad that you're with us down on the grounds of
the North Central West Virginia Airport getting ready to pull
a plane. And on the phone, we've got Martin Hout
with the Harrison Doddridge County United Way. Martin, good morning, sir,
How are you Good morning?
Speaker 3 (20:13):
How are you doing?
Speaker 2 (20:14):
I'm doing great, Thank you very much. Okay, first off,
we've got to answer the first question, what is the
nomenclature of the plane that's going to be pulled?
Speaker 4 (20:25):
So the plane came about with one of our board
members who's an assistant director here at the North Central
West Virginia Airport, Sean Long, to pull a plane for
fundraising for the United Ways, also a board member. It's
an excellent idea. So we've worked together to put this together,
to get a jet airliner and to get teams together
(20:47):
and pull it.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
Do you know how much it weighs?
Speaker 4 (20:52):
I don't. We're not sure which plane we're actually getting
at this moment. They're working on it now and we're
going to try to get it over here Asa.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
Okay, Now, how many teams do you have out there? Martin?
Speaker 4 (21:04):
Right now, we're going to have most likely six teams
between ten thirty and twelve to pull.
Speaker 2 (21:11):
Okay, and how far do they have to pull?
Speaker 4 (21:15):
So they can pull it as far as they can
with a maximum of twelve feet, we'll stop them so
they are they're lucky enough to get it moving, they
can pull it up to twelve feet.
Speaker 2 (21:24):
Okay. Now what kind of training have you witnessed going
on among these teams?
Speaker 4 (21:30):
Well, I've witnessed a video from the Rustic Mechanicals, who
is a Shakespeare troop, and they've been pulling wagons and
doing some other things for their exercise.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
Okay, all right, okay, the inside track is with you, Martin.
Who is your pick to win this?
Speaker 4 (21:54):
I think it's going to be either the rustic mechanicals
or the council crew. And the council crew is made
up of municipal elected leaders who've all come together to
pull in the same direction.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
And let's not forget that the direction that we're pulling
in is education, health, safety net and financial stability for
the Harrison and Doddridge County community. Certainly a worthy.
Speaker 4 (22:19):
Cause, absolutely absolutely, and the true winner of this is
the United Way and all the seventeen agencies that we
serve on a daily basis.
Speaker 2 (22:29):
Now, tell me about your campaign. It kicks off today.
What's your goal, who's the chair? Things like that.
Speaker 4 (22:36):
So today is the kickoff of the campaign. Meredith Queen
is our campaign chair, and our goal is seven hundred
and eighty thousand dollars.
Speaker 2 (22:45):
Okay, perfect, all right, Martin. Well, we'll keep your finger
on the pulse and maybe you could send me a
picture of the pulling if you don't mind.
Speaker 4 (22:55):
We will try to get you a picture. I appreciate
that very much, and thank you for having me on.
Speaker 2 (22:59):
Absolutely Martin, you take care of yourself well. This week
is fire prevention Week across the state of West Virginia,
and when we come back, we're going to be speaking
with Morgantown Fire Department Chief Gary fresh Hour and city
fire Marshall Jason Quinn. That's coming up next on Talk
of the Town AM fourteen forty FM one oh four
(23:19):
point five WAJR.
Speaker 1 (23:24):
West Virginia Outdoors is the Mountain states only hook and
bullet radio show dedicated to the more than quarter million
hunters and anglers across the state. Award winning host Chris
Lawrence has been tracking down hunting and fishing stories for
more than twenty five years.
Speaker 5 (23:38):
In a stream or a river, they really like to
have a mud bank and they like to have a
place where they can.
Speaker 2 (23:43):
Dig an underwater holes as a refuge.
Speaker 5 (23:47):
That's correct.
Speaker 2 (23:48):
You.
Speaker 1 (23:50):
They have to evade predators.
Speaker 6 (23:52):
Now, some prayers will chase them. There a manker and
author obviously, but they can they can avoid the coyotes,
the fosters, the bobcait. That's the owls and the hawks,
and that's really the ones that probably take the.
Speaker 1 (24:03):
Most up, whether it's hunting and fishing news or just
compelling stories about the enjoyment of the great outdoors. West
Virginia Outdoors covers it all Saturday mornings at seven oh
six am and for your daily fix, Outdoors Today brings
you two and a half minutes of news and notes
from the woods and water every weekday morning on Metro News,
the Voice of West Virginia.
Speaker 7 (24:24):
I'm Kyle Wigs, I'm Greg Hunter, and I'm Brad Howe,
and we welcome you to join us each weeknight at
six oh six for the City Net state Wide Sports Line.
Speaker 2 (24:32):
As always, will dive deep into mountaineer athletics.
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We'll cover the mountainees, we'll cover high school sports, and
if it's happening in the world of sports, we'll be.
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Talking about it.
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You can listen live and text into the show each
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Metro News TV app. It's the City Net state Wide
Sports Line on Metro News.
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(25:14):
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Speaker 5 (25:25):
Listen. I'm a West Virginian through and through. Grew up
in Bridgeport thirty five years in the Charleston area, rooted
for the Mountaineers. Since well, let's not talk ages. You
won't find a bigger fan of our teams, but they
get called out when they deserve it. Metro News Hotline's
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(25:46):
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Speaker 2 (25:56):
HI. This is Dave Wilson along with TJ.
Speaker 5 (25:58):
Meadows.
Speaker 7 (25:59):
Join us weekdays at ten Metro News Talkline on this
Metro News radio station.
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TJ.
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The more things change, the more they stay the same.
That's right, Dave.
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We'll continue to examine and discuss issues important to West Virginia,
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Heery new host, Same talkline.
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Join us week days at ten oh six on this
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It's the time of the year when Friday nights are special,
and that's because Friday nights are reserved for high school football.
This is Fred Pursinger inviting you to join Dave jekking
in me every Friday night through November twenty eight for
year number twenty four of Game Night. Every Friday night,
We'll bring you all the scores and stories from around
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(26:47):
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Visit wvmatchsurvey dot org.
Speaker 1 (26:54):
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Speaker 5 (27:01):
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Metro New's Midday presented by Soulango Law from noon to
three on this Metro News radio station, we are talking
(27:34):
about your town. Now back to the talk of the town.
Speaker 2 (27:38):
Good Tuesday morning. It is a nine forty two partner,
cloudy and seventy in the University City. The Metro Newsaki
Weather does say the chance of rain this afternoon is
ninety percent. We'll be sure and keep an eye on that.
Now in studio we've got Morgantown Fire Chief Gary fresh
Hour and we have the Fire Marshall Jason Quinn with us.
(28:02):
Good morning to both of you, gentlemen. How are we doing?
Are doing great? Thank you very much. Get a little
closer to that if you would please, I'd appreciate that. Now,
let's see, it is fire Prevention Week. So what kinds
of things are we keying in on this year? And
this is Jason Quinn, City Fire Marshal.
Speaker 5 (28:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 9 (28:22):
So every every year the NFPA does a campaign and
a theme, and this year it's lithium ion batteries in
your home and proper techniques and charging and storage and
handling and usage of those types of items.
Speaker 10 (28:38):
And every year since their inception, they've come up with
a different theme every year.
Speaker 2 (28:43):
Yeah. You know, sometimes I've seen those lithium ion batteries
burn and it, you know, it looks almost like a
for lack of a better term, like a box of
ammunition burning, because they seem to pop and throw a
lot of debris and things like that. Is that what
I'm seeing?
Speaker 10 (29:01):
Yeah, it's when a lithium ion battery ignites. It.
Speaker 9 (29:04):
It's called thermal runaway and it's basically an out of
control fire and it's fed with the materials in the
battery and extreme heat.
Speaker 10 (29:15):
Very hard to extinguish.
Speaker 9 (29:16):
Usually takes a lot of water, a lot of cooling
in order to put those fires out.
Speaker 2 (29:21):
Okay, so let's see, I've got my phone right here.
This has a lithium my own battery in it, right, correct, Okay, Okay,
But there are other kinds of lithium my own batteries.
Speaker 9 (29:35):
There's every ev has lithium I own batteries, hoverboards, electric scooters,
electric bikes.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
So they go from the palm of your hand to
something pretty big.
Speaker 1 (29:49):
Correct.
Speaker 2 (29:50):
Okay.
Speaker 8 (29:50):
There's actually twelve different types of chemical makeups within the
lithium ion battery, depending on what the use is. So,
like a lithium balt oxide, which is seen like in
your your telephones, your handheld stuff, and then they have
lithium nickel manganese for like vehicle fires. So there's different
chemical makeups within that blanket of a lithium ion battery.
Speaker 2 (30:14):
Now, is there any one of those mixtures that might
be more volatile than another or are they all equally bad?
Speaker 4 (30:23):
No?
Speaker 8 (30:23):
For sure, like a like an the lithium nickel manganese.
The reason they use it is because it has a
longer life, but it also has a higher discharge and
that's why it can power a vehicle versus a cell phone.
Speaker 2 (30:37):
Okay, yeah, no, So just to just to clarify as
much for me as it is the audience. But when
you talk about a higher discharge, you're talking about the
ability to be able to handle greater amounts of energy, correct, Okay,
and then with that also comes a greater amount of
a risk for fire. Absolutely. Okay. So uh, we're gonna
(31:01):
get to cars here in just a moment. But Jason,
you brought up a great point off the air about
making sure that when you use a lithium ion powered
device that you're using the right power cord, charging cord,
and that you're using something that is legitimate or certified.
Speaker 1 (31:22):
Correct.
Speaker 9 (31:22):
So every cell phone or any device that has these
types of batteries will come with a charger from the factory,
and if you don't use that charger, then that UL
listing or certification that it is obtained is no longer
valid because you're you're using different devices. So it's always
(31:46):
important to use whatever charging cable or device to charge
that came with the device originally.
Speaker 2 (31:54):
Okay, you brought up hoverboards from a few years ago,
and I remember seeing and hearing the stories about people
that would get a give a get a hoverboard and
it would burst into flames. But there might be more
to the story.
Speaker 10 (32:10):
So there were.
Speaker 9 (32:13):
They became a pretty big fad a few years ago,
and it seemed to be a popular Christmas gift. The
problem is they were they were coming from overseas and
they didn't have any type of UL certification.
Speaker 10 (32:26):
And what specifically, like the city of New.
Speaker 9 (32:31):
York, which has probably more high rises than anywhere in
the United States, they were seeing lots of fires that
were occurring where people would ride these things hop on
the elevator. Persons in the elevator. These devices start to
self spontaneously combust and catch fire in the elevators, and
you could go to YouTube and pull up dozens of
(32:52):
videos of elevator fires from lithium my own batteries, and
that really changed the core with UL, which is Underwriter Laboratory,
which is a certification agency to crack down on these
types of imports and things like that.
Speaker 2 (33:09):
Okay, well, what concerns do you have about the modern
day electric bicycle that you see tooling around Because somebody's
got to take that inside or it'll be somebody else's.
Speaker 9 (33:19):
Right, it goes back to originally use the equipment that
came with the bike to charge it. Sometimes it's better
to not immediately throw something charge, let that battery cool
down a little bit. Once it's charged, take it off
the charger once it's fully chargers need to keep it
plugged down.
Speaker 2 (33:38):
Okay, Okay, and now Chief, I'd like for you to
address the larger lithium ion batteries because I think we're
going to break a little bit of news here.
Speaker 1 (33:50):
Yeah, so.
Speaker 8 (33:53):
We are actually going to have a company by the
name of Vehicle Response Training. They're from Minneapois, Minnesota, and
they're going to bring their whole production in for us
at the beginning of December, and we are going to
from that, they're going to train us on vehicle fires,
(34:14):
and then from that we're going to kind of look
and adjust our tactics to those fires. We're going to
look at moving towards a fire blanket which will basically
smother the fire, and then the guys will be able
to lift up the end of it and slide an
(34:35):
aerosol unit that has potassium nitrate in it, and that
displaces the oxygen and it should allow then for the
the integrity of the car to stay together, so people
can potentially salvage what they have left in their vehicles.
Speaker 2 (34:55):
Or even from your standpoint, an investigator like you, I'd
have a little bit more to go on right.
Speaker 1 (35:04):
It.
Speaker 9 (35:06):
When these things burn, they burn out of control. So
another nice benefit of these is the is the the
chemicals that are released during these fires. It'll actually put
our fire firement in less harms way by using these
types of devices.
Speaker 2 (35:25):
I just I find that incredibly fascinating. You've got a
blanket you're gonna throw over an electric car, then you
put an aerosol device in there to put the potassium
nitrate in there to basically starve out the fire, correct,
and and then you just kind of let things cool
and then deal with it from there.
Speaker 1 (35:44):
Correct.
Speaker 8 (35:44):
Yep, And it should, like I said, the a lot
of times with the vehicle fire, once they go, they
really go, you know, because everything's flammable and people, you know,
if you lose your materials that are in your back seat,
in your front seat, all those kind of things. So
anything we can do, it's obviously probably not going to
salvage the actual vehicle, but it should put them to
(36:08):
in a position where, you know, if they have any
possessions inside their vehicle, it should it should help to
save any of that.
Speaker 2 (36:15):
And then the other thing that was eye opening is
that you brought up is that this blanket in system
is not a single use system. Tell us about that part.
Speaker 8 (36:25):
Yeah, So the blankets are I think they're made out
of like a kevlar material, and they're actually intended for
thirty uses before we need to replace them. So now
obviously they're they're quite pricey, but in the process, you know,
when you break it up over thirty times, well then
it seems to be a pretty good investment.
Speaker 2 (36:45):
Sure, And then also when you take a look at
the way, you know, we've got electric busses. I'm sure
a blanket, you know, might not work in that particular scenario,
but with the more applications of battery powered vehicles, certainly
makes sense to come up with some sort of an
alternate solution.
Speaker 8 (37:04):
Yes, for sure, because everything is ever changing and we
have to be ever changing as well.
Speaker 2 (37:11):
And I think from the firefighters standpoint, you know, you're
giving them a tool that is proven to work, Whereas
I think that before, when we're responding to an electric
battery fire, there might have been a lot of questions
as to how to even handle it.
Speaker 8 (37:26):
Absolutely and you just copious amounts of water.
Speaker 2 (37:30):
Yeah yeah, so okay, all right, now, so that's the
battery part, and we've got just a couple of minutes.
But what about the chimney, the furnace, space heater, extension cords.
I know every fire inspector I know loves a good
extension cord.
Speaker 5 (37:47):
Well, no, we don't.
Speaker 9 (37:49):
But you should never use extension cords for permanent use.
They should only be used if you're running a shop
back or running a tool of some sort, and always
plug directly into the wall as far.
Speaker 10 (38:03):
As chimneys, you have to maintain those devices.
Speaker 9 (38:07):
You have to make sure they're kept clean and free
of kreasub build up, or you will have a chimney
fire that will get out of control. Hire a local
HVAC contractor come twice a year, inspect your furnace, air conditioner,
make sure it's running right, boiler systems, whatever you use.
And obviously fire prevention week. I have to say that
(38:30):
we're coming up on daylight Savy's time. So when you
change your clock, change your batteries and your smoke alarms
and your carbon monoxide detectors.
Speaker 2 (38:37):
That's right. And if maybe you just moved in somewhere,
take a walk through the house, make sure that you
do have smoke detectors.
Speaker 9 (38:45):
If if you don't have one, or let's say you
can't afford one, or you know a family that can't
afford one, call us. We have smoke detectors and carbon
oxides that we will come install in your house for you.
Speaker 2 (38:58):
Okay, great, all right, well guys, really do appreciate your time.
Thank you for coming in today. I think I asked
decent questions. I didn't get turned back on anything during
that segment. It's pretty good. Yeah, I'm feeling all right. Okay,
hey you guys have a good day.
Speaker 1 (39:15):
Okay, thanks you too.
Speaker 2 (39:16):
Absolutely, Okay, let's see partner, cloudy seventy degrees in the
University City. We're going to come back and wrap things up,
coming after this on top of the town. AM fourteen
forty f M one oh four point five w AJR
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