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DEPT, DECT and DVFD constitute a unique three-way
partnership in preparedness that is greater than the sum of its parts.
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1. DEPT: The mission of
the Damascus Emergency Preparedness Team is to serve the Damascus
community by identifying and creating the resources — both inside and outside
the community — necessary to be prepared to meet an emergency that may occur
within or affect Damascus, and to provide appropriate
measures to contain, manage and survive it. Many members are Community Emergency
Response Team (CERT) certified. Membership in DEPT is open to all citizens of
Damascus. The group meets on the first and third Mondays of each month at
the Damascus Recreation Center.
All
DEPT members are members of the DVFD Auxiliary.
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2.
DECT: The second leg of the partnership is the Damascus Emergency Communications Team,
which
provides emergency and public service communications services to the entire
Damascus, Maryland area. |
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Working in concert
with DEPT, DECT's mission is to
support the Damascus Volunteer Fire Department and provide emergency
communications in times of large-scale emergencies throughout the Damascus
Fire District #13, utilizing
two Kenwood 2-meter and 70-centimeter radios. These
radios can communicate throughout the Baltimore/Washington/Frederick,
Maryland area.
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DECT is open to all licensed HAMs and potential HAMs,
and meets on the second Tuesday of each month at 7:30 PM at the Damascus
Volunteer Fire Station.
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3. DVFD:
The central pillar of the three-way partnership is the
Damascus Volunteer Fire Department.
DVFD was organized on
September 14, 1944 to meet a pressing community
need and is currently celebrating its 64th anniversary. The present firehouse,
built at a cost of $1.2 million, was dedicated on March 28, 1993. At 45,000
square feet, it has three large drive-through bays which are big enough to
accommodate all of the department’s apparatus and more.
The area covered by all of the partnership members is
Damascus Fire Department District #13: bounded on the north and east by the
Montgomery County line, on the south by Watkins Road, and on the west by Barnes
and Skylark Roads (see map below). |
