Donation will help fire department create smoke | Restaurants

DEERFIELD TOWNSHIP, OH (FOX19) – Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation will present fire training equipment to the Loveland Symmes Fire Department during a ceremony at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 2, 2012 at the Kings Mall Firehouse Subs.

Otherwise unavailable due to budget constraints, the department benefits with a BullEx smoke generator and SmartDummy Training Manikin, worth $8,899. The donated items are crucial pieces of training equipment and will help simulate real-life scenarios where victims are trapped in vehicles and house fires. The SmartDummy is used to help prepare for life-threatening situations, it feels, sounds and moves like a real person.

Both items will enhance the department's training program allowing them to better serve the community. Since 2005, Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation has donated more than $79,921 to public safety entities in Ohio.

“Our local heroes need to be prepared at a moment's notice to protect and save lives,” said Jeffrey Hawk, franchisee of the Firehouse Subs location. “They deserve the best tools, training and technology and our Foundation is here to help make that happen.”

The restaurants recycle leftover, five-gallon pickle buckets and sell them to customers for $2. Donation canisters on register counters are used to collect spare change, while the round up program allows guests to “round up” their bill to the nearest dollar.

The presentation takes place at the Firehouse Subs located at 4750 Fields Ertel Road. Attendees to the event include local firefighters and their families, franchisee Jeffrey Hawk, area representative Charles Fryman and Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation development manager Meghan Bender.

In 2005, Firehouse Subs created the non-profit, Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation, with the mission to provide funding, life-saving equipment and educational opportunities to aid first-responders. Through the non-profit 501(c)(3), Firehouse Subs has given more than $3.5 million to hometown heroes, including fire and police departments and EMS organizations.

Firehouse Subs was founded in Jacksonville, Florida by a pair of brothers who are former firefighters, who have 200 years of firefighting heritage in their family.  The restaurants reflect firefighting not just in their name, but also in their menu items, their look, their interior murals, and in the chain's support of fire and rescue agencies.

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