MBTA Donation Assists Boston Fire Department

The MBTA today provided the Boston Fire Department with 20 specialized evacuation chairs for emergencies on the transit system and elsewhere.

At Maverick Station in East Boston this morning, Boston Fire Commissioner Roderick Fraser and firefighters were greeted by MBTA General Manager Richard Davey, who formally presented the evacuation chairs to the fire department.

Considered critical pieces of emergency response equipment, nearly five hundred of the specially-designed emergency evacuation chairs are currently being deployed throughout the MBTA system.

Purchased with a grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the new equipment was selected and procured based primarily on input from advocates for the elderly and people with disabilities.

Over the past several months, the MBTA training school and the Boston Fire Department’s Division of Emergency Planning and Preparedness have held joint training sessions to ensure employees at both agencies are fully trained in the use of this equipment.