Md. Chief: Station Not Closed, Just Unstaffed
LARGO, Md. -- The word "close" is apparently a dirty word in Prince George's County government. County officials, including the fire chief, say that removing paid, career firefighters from a station, or leaving that station without staffing for its fire engines and ambulances, does not close the firehouse.
Still, Chief Eugene Jones admits that starting next Sunday fire engines and ambulances will no longer be responding out of the Calverton station at 3939 Powder Mill Road. There will also be no fire engines running from the Chillum firehouse at 6330 Riggs Road.
Career firefighters are also being removed from the Capitol Heights and Riverdale Heights fire stations. County and volunteer officials admit the limited number of volunteers at those two stations are not expected to be able to staff the firehouses on a regular basis.
On Friday, WUSA9.com first reported the new staffing plan called for the closing of the Calverton and Chillum firehouses. It had been submitted by Chief Jones to County Executive Jack Johnson's staff for final approval.
Over the weekend two modifications were made to the plan. The changes will put a paramedic unit at the Chillum station and move the office of a hazardous materials coordinator to the Calverton station. Administration sources tell 9NEWS NOW the changes were made in an effort to show the public the stations were still open.
In an interview Monday afternoon, Chief Jones sounded the same theme he has in recent months that there are too many firehouses, too close to each other, in Prince George's County. The chief has made the point that 22 fire stations each have another firehouse less than a mile and a half away. Under current budget restraints the chief has said the county can't afford to staff all of the stations.
In the case of the Calverton station, the next closest Prince George's County firehouse is in Beltsville, about 2.3 miles away.
Chief Jones said because the redeployed firefighters will be used to beef up neighboring fire stations it is not a reduction in services to the citizens living near the firehouses impacted by the plan.
On July 1, PGFD began a temporary plan of removing career staffing from firehouses on a rotating basis. This, like the new plan, are part of an effort to drastically reduce overtime. Chief Jones had assigned volunteer stations to provide staffing when the career firefighters were redeployed. 9NEWS NOW discovered that while some volunteer crews were able to cover the shifts, other fire companies failed to respond to scores of medical and fire emergencies. Fire companies coming from a greater distance handled those calls.
Despite visits to these firehouses showing that no one was home, Chief Jones again insisted the fire stations weren't closed.
The new plan is expected to greatly reduce, but not completely eliminate the need for the removal of station staffing on a rotating basis.
The Calverton and Chillum stations border Montgomery County. Montgomery County officials says they are concerned about the staffing reductions because the closest firehouses are sent to calls near the border, regardless of the jurisdiction the fire trucks and ambulances are from. A Montgomery County spokesman said a meeting was held Monday afternoon to determine how to respond to the situation.
Republished with permission of WUSA-TV.
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