The Wicomico County Chief's Association is the responsible party for meeting and determining what departments respond to what fire. Despite what everyday citizens believe as to paying city and county taxes, none of that truly applies, unless there is a special arrangement. An example of this would be the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Rescue Squad, in Montgomery County. BCC is a volunteer corporation operating within the Montgomery Department of Fire and Rescue Services and they operate just like all the other Montgomery County fire departments. However, their close proximity to the neighborhood communities in Northwest, D.C. has their EMS units physically closer than other D.C. Fire/EMS units. In this case, many citizens of this area of Northwest subscribe (pay annual money) to have a BCC EMS unit respond to their call for emergency instead of D.C. Fire/EMS. I believe, and may be wrong, but I don't think that annexation has ever played much of a part into Wicomico County fire department response, unless recent annexation has made some inroads, but that would also require the involved municipalities talking with their respective fire department. The biggest factors have been "this has always been so and so territory" or "we've always done it that way".
In Wicomico County, to have a standardized dispatch assignment, the chiefs have to have consensus on the responses and units required. As far as I know most of the stations do agree to a three station response for structure fires, however there are differences. Fruitland has a two station response, to the best of my knowledge, for no really logical reason (this is why Clyde Avenue only was dispatched for Station 3 and Station 16) Stations 1 and 15 eventually responded but had to be specifically called (also, earlier, 200 South Division Street, Fruitland, house fire - only got Station 3 and 1). If chief officers are misguided by pride and selfishness, instead of providing the best service for the county residents, then you end up with chiefs picking and choosing who is called to the fire. To Salisbury's credit, they have come a long way and use the three station response. Years ago, you had to wait to be called, unless the chief officer responding could put pride aside and do the right thing.
Wicomico County Central, the county's 9-1-1 center, can only do what they are told, or requested, by either the chief officer agreements, or by what a chief requests at a fire. The commenter above is correct about a recent fire in Willards. On the gossip site (TWD) you can easily read the personality conflicts that cause a closer ladder truck to be staged on the fireground while one from further away is requested, responds and is given assignments. Windmere Court, Willards.
Using the agreed three-station response, the house fire initially was dispatched for Stations 8 (Willards), 7 (Pittsville) and 11 (Powellville). Tower 6 (Berlin) was requested to respond by Incident Command. Parsonsburg Truck 7 responded but was staged.
If citizens want to try and attach the thought of paying for services, then they need to investigate how fire departments currently determine 9-1-1 responses first.
DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
10 comments:
Your such a douch.....Station 7 is Pittsvile stimpy!!!
WHERE DID THIS INFO COME FROM?
I think that it is only by the grace of God and the wings of fate that something major hasn't happened. It is a fu#ked up system
your are wrong what a shocker!!!parsonsburg has no truck
thank you for researching this and becoming informed. and watchful eye...you got a better idea? this system is voted on by many people and it's the best they've gotten to so screw you unless you got a better idea.
thanks for STOPPING and actually doing the research Joe.
Look how much better today's post looked, as opposed to some other more recent posts.
You might even bring up points worth talking about.
[For example, why do city residents pay for 24/7 firefighting protection for people who live in the county?]
There would be a three station response in Fruitland.3,1,16.But they don't want a ladder truck unless they ask for it!The reason i have been told is because 98% of the homes they have are single story!
Just some helpful info about the "truck" the truck hes an aerial device mounted on it. But a truck also carries other tools and special equipment to do different jobs on the fire scene. Mainly venting and salvage, in big cities trucks also respond to traffic accidents with rescue tools. so a truck has many duties, not just to ladder a structure. Reapectfuly Wagonmaster
Anonymous said...
There would be a three station response in Fruitland.3,1,16.But they don't want a ladder truck unless they ask for it!The reason i have been told is because 98% of the homes they have are single story!
6:45 PM
Ladder trucks aren't just for multiple story buildings, they are for multiple functions and services.
Before you renegade firemen start telling someone like Joe to take a class you need to do the same.
Ladder trucks, ie. Truck Companies are for Ladders, Overhaul, Ventilation, Extrication, Rescue and Search. You should have learned this in your basic fire class. As a matter of fact this county can get away with only 3 ladder trucks. One centrally located, one on the East side and one on the West side. Every fire department in this county does not need its own ladder truck and it is time for the leaders of this county to wake up and stop letting these volunteer renegades continue to slop at the public trough.
WOW - It's amazing to read all of the postings here about staffing and response. I can remember, as member of a local department, when the apparatus was not allowed to leave until the siren had stopped and 10 to 12 members were hanging all over the engine, including the hosebed, as the engine rolled off the apron. I also recall one member getting trown off the side of an engine as it cleared the apron and entered the street. Excuse me for reminiscing but boy have things changed, and for the better IMO.
Let's set the record straight - The NFPA (National Fire Protection Agency), although not a regulatory agency, gives each and every fire department in this country a set of codes and standards to effectivly enable them to implement standard operating procedures to insure that they are maximizing their abilities to serve the public that they protect. Unfortunately, these codes and standard recommended practices are general to the fire service as a whole and need to be refined for local jurisdictions.
There are those that would tell you that the only way to cure the problems and issues that have been brought forth here is to implement a "box alarm" dispatch protocol for the entire county. I would submit to all of you that this would be a tough system to put into place here and would be constant problems for the dispatchers. The majority of our county citizens are served by volunteers, personnel that are not able to guarantee their response status at all times. At 10AM any station in the county may only be able to staff an engine with 3 - 4 firefighter, at 10PM that may increase to 5 - 7 firefighters.
The current county alerting system for the various types of incidents in this county is decided by the Chief's Association and they should know what their capabilities are for their individual stations. It cannot be reasonably assumed or predicted that they will be the same. The ultimate goal is for each and every station to have the response that satisfies their abilty to get the job done.
The taxpayers cannot afford to have a full time paid firefighting force that is available 24/7. It is difficult now to currently staff the EMS system county wide without the support of tax money.
I would encourage all those dealing out opinions here to support the system that you have and to continue to do the great job that you do regardless of outside opinions or even those of disgruntled members on the inside.
One huge fact - there are no injured victims still lying at an accident scene somewhere, no family member is lying on his floor dying from a heart attack waiting for EMS and there are no house fires still burning - AND THE REASON IS - You are all succesful at what you do both career and volunteer. Keep up the good work !
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