Rhoades: Air Products Donates Emergency Equipment to Mahanoy City Borough Officials

Mahanoy City– State Sen. James Rhoades (R-29) today thanked Air Products and Chemicals for donating much-needed emergency response equipment to Mahanoy City Borough.

Rhoades identified the donated equipment, including three base radios, a backup generator and two laptops, at a press conference held today.

"The flood of 2006 devastated many homes and businesses throughout the Borough of Mahanoy City and Schuylkill County," said Rhoades. "While our local emergency responders jumped into action, they lacked the necessary communication equipment which hindered their efforts."

According to Rhoades, following the recent floods in the area, Randy Kalce, an Air Products employee and the Fire Chief of a local volunteer fire department, convened a meeting with local officials, emergency responders and Air Products to identify equipment needs that would improve Mahanoy Borough's response to future emergencies.

"At Air Products, safety is our number one priority," said Randy Kalce. "And we don't just mean safety at our facilities—we also try to make the communities where our employees live and work safer as well."

Air Products announced today that it would donate the following items:

Three base radios. One for the fire department, the police department and the borough.
Backup generator. The Mahanoy City Borough Hall is the crisis management center for the area and lacks backup electricity for the crisis management room.
Two laptop computers. These laptops would be used during a crisis to further enhance coordination and communication with various federal, state and local officials.

"I think it is outstanding that the folks at Air Products have provided this life saving equipment to the Borough," said Rhoades. "I would like to take the opportunity to thank Air Products for their continued generosity to the community."