P.G. Fire Station Now All-Volunteer

Prince George’s County Fire Chief Marc S. Bashoor has transferred all career firefighters out of a Riverdale station, leaving volunteers to provide service after a series of conflicts between career employees and volunteer firefighters reached a boiling point, fire officials said.

Beginning Monday, four career firefighters who staffed the station for eight hours a day during weekdays were transferred from the Riverdale Volunteer Fire Department to the nearby Riverdale Heights fire station in order to allow for “some cooling-off time,” Prince George's County Fire/EMS Department spokesman Mark Brady said.

Department officials declined to discuss the reason behind the transfers, announcing the transfers in a statement that only says the station was the site of “several ongoing conflicts between career and volunteer members.” Union officials said the conflicts stemmed from a female career firefighter’s complaints of harassment.

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