WUSA9.com Exclusive: Is Your Neighborhood Fire Station Open For Business?

5 months ago

CALVERTON, Md. (WUSA) -- With the new budget year starting, the Prince George's County Fire/EMS Department is trying to do more with less. This means removing paid, career staffing from neighborhood firehouses on a rotating basis.

Department spokesman Mark Brady confirms the county does not have the money to staff fire stations as it has done previously.

To fill in, Prince George's County is relying on volunteer firefighters. While volunteer firefighters have long made up a large percentage of the firefighting force in the county, using them to reduce overtime for career firefighters is a relatively new concept.

County officials say that plan worked in at least four stations on Wednesday. But as 9NEWS NOW confirmed, the Calverton Fire Station was left unstaffed throughout the day.

9NEWS NOW made it the half-mile from the Calverton Fire Station to Evans Trail in about 90-seconds, after Willie Smith's niece called 911 on Wednesday afternoon. The 66-year-old man complained of chest pains.

PGFD Chief Spokesman Mark Brady confirms it took about 8-minutes for the closest ambulance to arrive at the apartment complex. That ambulance was staffed by volunteers from Branchville, about 4-miles away. They were soon joined by paramedics from the College Park Station.

Deborah Smith said she was wondering why it took crews longer than usual to respond. Smith called it "scary" after learning the local firehouse was closed.

A short time later an ambulance from College Park responded past the Calverton Fire Station to assist a person who had fallen at a senior citizen's complex across the street from the firehouse.

With its overtime budget slashed by as much as 75%, Prince George's County says it is relying on volunteers to fill shifts in as many as six stations at a time. The career firefighters are being redeployed to fill other gaps.

Brady says, "We are trying to make the best use of the resources we have".

The plan, put together by Acting Chief Eugene Jones, makes it clear there is no money to staff stations even when volunteers are unable to provide the staffing. In those cases, as in Calverton on Wednesday, the stations will be closed.

Besides Branchville, volunteers filled shifts on Wednesday in West Lanham, Bowie, and Glenn Dale. Some volunteer chiefs have told 9NEWS NOW that filling these shifts during day time hours, when many volunteers have other jobs, can be difficult. Those chiefs, who did not want to be identified, say they aren't certain how this will play out in the long run.

The Calverton Fire Station, like some others in the county, has little volunteer participation. Brady said the department did not expect it to be staffed on Wednesday. According to Brady, part of the plan has the number of firefighters slightly increased at adjacent stations during these periods.

Click here to see when your fire station will have career firefighters redeployed. Whether the station will still be able to respond on emergencies will depend on volunteer participation.