Yesterday morning (April 10, 2018) the Fruitland Volunteer Fire Company got alerted to an MVC on St. Lukes Road and the scratched. They had to be re-alerted a couple of times and they never got out. Station 1 Salisbury was dispatched and Truck 1 responded to the scene and took command, stood around and returned to Salisbury.
That dispatch cost the County taxpayers twice because Fruitland was already paid to cover that call and they refused to respond. The refused and were already paid by the county. Sad!
What is also sad is that Fire Chief Robin Townsend and their president sent letters to the County Executive and the County Council demanding that the Station 13 volunteers were NOT to be sent as mutual aid to their calls.
Fruitland and Parsonsburg have to be re-alerted over and over again and if Station 13 volunteers were automatically dual dispatched with them at least someone would be able to get out and respond.
Every time the Salisbury Fire Department has to respond to these scratches by Parsonsburg and Fruitland it is costing the taxpayers thousands of dollars.
It's time for Bob Culver to get these volunteer stations in line with National Standards and more than anything the quality and safety the taxpayers of Wicomico County deserve.
63 comments:
St Luke's Rd is right down the street from Station 13 where Parsonsburg is twice as far away at least! It makes no sense to NOT call on 13 for a response, unless, of course, politics is involved.
I have had to call Parsonsburg twice, once for an ambulance and once for a fire and both times they responded quickly.I have no complaints.
Did Fruitland refuse - or - were they on another call? My understanding is the it was a MVC with injuries. I find it hard to believe (as you stated was in the alleged letters) Fruitland literally meant #13 could not run a call in the Fruitland jurisdiction, if Fruitland was unavailable.
What pay are you referring to???? These Fire Departments are NOT paid by the County!!! Culver has no control over a Volunteer Fire Department the Towns they are incorporated in have little say as well. Each Department have Charters and by-laws that govern there existence. You need to simply call the Fire Department ask for the Chief or the President and let them know your concern as a community resident. I think you were only trying to drum up something for the "misfits" to get involved....that horse has already been ridden out of town....
While I support the concept of a Station 13, your post is innacurate. The only expense was gas and maybe a tiny bit of rubber on the tires. Other costs are fixed and didn't matter is there was a call or not. If all Sta 1 did was stand around, then a CD shouldn't have been alerted in the first place.
City charges the county for that call per the agreement
Station 1 has truck 2 their
I doubt they refused they just don't have the active man power. Parsonburg is circling the drain because of their chief .
Lies
Station 6 is a leadership issue. Eric Tyler chief and Justin Shockley deputy chief . Justin can't run a simple call and Eric is to worried about loosing his spot to run a good department .
Parsonburg took 16 minutes to get to my house with a ambulance for my uncoisuous son .
April 11, 2018 8:12am
Thank you for your comment, which made much more sense than the original post.
The writer has no clue as to what he is talking about. You will have an alert and if no response you will get a realert then if no response the next due is called. Unless they are on another call and a officer advises Central to go to next due. These volunteer companies are not paid. If you are going to make up stuff at least know what you are talking about. I think you are whining about station 13, but are totally ignorant in your statements. I support station 13 and hope things work out for them. Being it is hard to get and retain volunteers these days, I cant see refusing them and their services.
It's probably Chief Hoppes lol
Too busy cutting grass and drinking.
Vienna vol FD chief watched his OWN house burn down last year and the fire company was across the street lol.
Signed the cheif.
Joe
I know volunteers that care more about responding to fire calls than having a paid job that pay the bills ? These idiots need to get there redneck priorities straight.
I have NEVER had any issues with response time or quality of service from Parsonsburg VFD. Considering Pburg is a rural, spread-out area with many narrow back-roads and poorly marked/lit residences, you can not reasonably expect a 2 minute response time! It’s not like the station is next door to your home and your house is well lit by street lights. GPS helps, but is not always 100% accurate. All this bickering about and between fire departments is juvenile at best. Worse than high school drama. Would the real adults please take charge of the daycare? Geez.
Well the original writer is partly correct. The County has given the volunteer fire companies money to respond to fires and ambulance calls. So if Fruitland did not respond and Salisbury did then the Salisbury Fie Department probably did bill the County per the fire service agreement
I do not support Hoppes, he never should have been Chief. Don't support Day either he's a joke.
It's time to look into funding . The stations that are addressed in here will not change . Poor leadership at both . Robin your days are over your washed up. Eric your chief days should had never started . Station responds with 1 or 2 people on the engine . Real fine work sir.
Why would any station refuse another stations help .
It seems like all the fire departments are scratching or being toned out several times. They have paid paramedics that are shared, but no one to drive for the paramedics. If the county is paying for Salisbury to have 24 hour paid coverage the county deserves the same. If not and the county is going to give money to these fire departments they should make sure there is one volunteer at all times that can drive for the paramedics. There doesn't seem to be a lack of people willing to jump on a fire engine for an accident but if you are sick and need an ambulance you will have to wait.
Fruitland re alerts every call
Where is station 13? I think Fruitland is station 3.
Because the city has double dipped for years
9:48 and 9:50 we are talking about Fruitland not Parsonsburg.
They were looking up treatment for "uncoisuous" in order to give quick treatment upon arrival.
Heard about that
Lol True.
Wicomico County fire and ems is ineffective and inefficient. County response times, staffing, staffing standards, deployment, use of funds, and patient care are horrible. Wicomico County gives each of the County volunteer corporations money to spend as they please. This means that people who have no EMS knowledge or experience (other than driving an ambulance) makes the decisions in each company regarding how they will use that money. Wouldnt it be best determined as a County to coordinate the use of money to maximize the efficiency of it? As an example you have providers in 6,7,8, and 11. If there is a serious call or multiple calls do they combine to handle it, or do they wait for each company to fail individially? Unfortunately they fail. If there is a serious call on the Mt. Hermon side of Parsonsburg, does the powelville ALS provider respond to assist and attempt to get quick patient care? No they sit there and listen to the extended response time and/or time waiting for a driver. Why doesnt that County money being spent benefit the immediate need? Each company pays differently, which does noot benefit the bottom dollar. Volunteers are needed, but the days of depending on volunteers for every EMS call are over. Home response is a dangerous unreliable concept that the county throws over a million dollars at, a reliable EMS system is feasible on the County budget. The Volunteer Corporations fail to mention the billing money that they fail to put back into the system. Its time for the County to step up and provide for the citizens as they know they should.
Several errors in your comments.
Eric go blow your horn and be a glory hound back across the bridge where you belong.
Check the fire service agreement between the city and county and you will see where “Pay” comes into play.
Check their response times. Not even hitting the standard of 9 min to the scene let alone out the door in 10min.
This horse has been beaten to death. Every time a station scratches or takes a few extra minutes, you can count on a Company 13 warrior screaming to be alerted. Face it, your not wanted or going to respond anywhere. Chiefs throughout the county have made it clear. By going on your weekly rant on this site, you degrade the very departments and chiefs that you are so desperate to run with. The damage is done and they're taking note. It will be a cold day in hell before Chief Townsend or Tyler ask for your assistance. Your Make Believe FD is nothing more than a social club for lost souls and SFD rejects. The best thing you can do is turn your scanner off and find another hobby. The county departments might be hurting a bit, but we're not desperate enough to ask for help from a group of proven losers.
Anonymous Anonymous said...
Did Fruitland refuse - or - were they on another call? My understanding is the it was a MVC with injuries. I find it hard to believe (as you stated was in the alleged letters) Fruitland literally meant #13 could not run a call in the Fruitland jurisdiction, if Fruitland was unavailable.
April 11, 2018 at 8:08 AM
There were not on a call and not one person showed up to the station so they REFUSED!
Anonymous said...
What pay are you referring to???? These Fire Departments are NOT paid by the County!!! Culver has no control over a Volunteer Fire Department the Towns they are incorporated in have little say as well. Each Department have Charters and by-laws that govern there existence. You need to simply call the Fire Department ask for the Chief or the President and let them know your concern as a community resident. I think you were only trying to drum up something for the "misfits" to get involved....that horse has already been ridden out of town....
April 11, 2018 at 8:12 AM
They get paid a lot of money by Wicomico County every single year you dumb F*** who doesn't know what he is talking about.
"Culver has no control over a Volunteer Fire Department"
Oh really? All it takes is a stroke of the pen and the County Executive can and will take all control of the fire and EMS in the County. They are only allowed to run independently because legislation hasn't been passed yet to have county wide Fire and EMS. It's coming, just wait and see.
Anonymous Anonymous said...
This horse has been beaten to death. Every time a station scratches or takes a few extra minutes, you can count on a Company 13 warrior screaming to be alerted. Face it, your not wanted or going to respond anywhere. Chiefs throughout the county have made it clear. By going on your weekly rant on this site, you degrade the very departments and chiefs that you are so desperate to run with. The damage is done and they're taking note. It will be a cold day in hell before Chief Townsend or Tyler ask for your assistance. Your Make Believe FD is nothing more than a social club for lost souls and SFD rejects. The best thing you can do is turn your scanner off and find another hobby. The county departments might be hurting a bit, but we're not desperate enough to ask for help from a group of proven losers.
April 11, 2018 at 8:37 PM
Said the paid Salisbury Farmin. Thanks for your continued support of Joes Blog.
Anonymous Anonymous said...
I have NEVER had any issues with response time or quality of service from Parsonsburg VFD. Considering Pburg is a rural, spread-out area with many narrow back-roads and poorly marked/lit residences, you can not reasonably expect a 2 minute response time! It’s not like the station is next door to your home and your house is well lit by street lights. GPS helps, but is not always 100% accurate. All this bickering about and between fire departments is juvenile at best. Worse than high school drama. Would the real adults please take charge of the daycare? Geez.
April 11, 2018 at 11:24 AM
Parsonsburg has been re-alerted over and over again and it's almost daily. You guys have been responding with a driver only on a fire engine just to prevent Salisbury from responding to take your call.
The county can stop your bullshit like that by passing legislation of minimum staffing on all apparatus before they leave the stations.
It's time for Bob Culver to work on legislation for a full-time countywide fire service in the county. The EMS is a start and so is the airport fire brigade.
Time to come into the 21st Century Bob Culver or step down as the county executive. If you can't fulfill the office then maybe we should go back to a council-manager form of government.
This is an awesome post Joe, thanks for posting the Letter to the Editor because there is a lot of truth to it. That fat, lazy Robin Townsend needs to step down as the fire chief. He lives over by the Wicomico River off Riverside Drive extended. He isn't even in Fruitland's real first due area. He is in an area that is closer to Salisbury. Step down old dude, you haven't taken any certifications in many years.
Robin Townsend is just a fire chief in name only. He isn't even a certified fire officer. Many of the members of FFD have more training and certifications than Robin does. Time to step down buddy.
Station 13 concept works great in Baltimore county, I don't see why it won't work here, The Whole county fireman's association supported station 1 volunteers leaving the city, then some backed out. Some companies offered gear, engines and support. Since then good ole boys have been elected into the Chiefs position which doesn't support this concept. Some if them work at salisbury fd. It's all political. With volunteer firefighters decreasing and Salisbury begging to recruit new untrained volunteers , which is a good thing, they have to start somewhere. They say they have plenty of volunteers but that's on paper only. They have very few and station 2 is about out of volunteers responding. Why not fund station 13 for a year at a reduced rate and give this a try, everyone work together to build a strong unified volunteer fire service that Wicomico County can be proud of. Stop bashing each other, put your egos aside and try it. It's a shame volunteers can't stick together and politicians are only worried about votes. Good luck to everyone and all the volunteers.
Being a leader doesn't require a title, having a title doesn't make you a leader. Fire Chief Robin Townsend needs to step down, he has that "Mall Cop" Chief Metal Detector body cavity search little big man mentality. Not a leader not someone that can inspire and motivate men, he must be Chief solely from seniority not by merit. Can you imagine how uninspiring it must be for a new cadet prospect to meet Robin. I sincerely hope when there is a real emergency other natural born leaders in the company step forward.
Anonymous said...
Check the fire service agreement between the city and county and you will see where “Pay” comes into play.
April 11, 2018 at 7:19 PM
That's right, anytime Salisbury is dispatched on a fire or EMS call anywhere in the county they are to be paid by the county per each call.
Anonymous said...
I doubt they refused they just don't have the active man power. Parsonburg is circling the drain because of their chief .
April 11, 2018 at 9:48 AM
Then they are refusing. The ones that are active are not responding so that means they are refusing. What part don't you understand? They have been paid by the county to hand the calls and they are refusing to handle the calls they are dispatched to.
Now that the Salisbury Fire Department was dispatched to hand Fruitlands scratched call that means the county is paying twice for that call. What part of that don't you understand Numnutz!
Anonymous Anonymous said...
Being a leader doesn't require a title, having a title doesn't make you a leader. Fire Chief Robin Townsend needs to step down, he has that "Mall Cop" Chief Metal Detector body cavity search little big man mentality. Not a leader not someone that can inspire and motivate men, he must be Chief solely from seniority not by merit. Can you imagine how uninspiring it must be for a new cadet prospect to meet Robin. I sincerely hope when there is a real emergency other natural born leaders in the company step forward.
April 12, 2018 at 11:38 PM
People have been afraid to run against him year after year. Now I he lives so far away from the fire station that I believe he is in Allen or Salisbury's fire district. Either way he is too far to even be and adequate member of any fire department.
Step down Robin, you suck at being the chief.
Well the fail response in this post was an MVC which if some of you remember correctly Fruitland never got dispatched for those unless it was a reported rescue. Salisbury didn't even run on MVC's for many years. Then it was a dual dispatch with Headquarters Company and Fruitland. Then the paid fireman convinced Chief Higgins that it would be a good idea to start running a fire truck on car accidents. Higgins didn't want to because he knew they would be running the wheels off the trucks and they weren't needed.
Well Fruitland and Robin Townsend decided to go along with it and now look at what's happening. They are scratching left and right. Proof that fire trucks aren't needed on MVC's is this call. It took 8 minutes before the next due fire company was dispatched. Then they had to wait for Salisbury to get there. The ambulance was perfectly fine without the fire truck and handled the call themselves.
If Fruitland isn't going to respond to these calls when dispatched the Chief Townsend should tell the department to write a letter to the 911 Center and tell them to quit dispatching Fruitland fire engines on MVCs since they are not needed and never have been needed.
As a taxpayer, if we have volunteers who want to man a fire company and are raising money to do so - why would you not support that?
The petty in-fighting by the "other" stations is ridiculous and our so-called County leaders need to grow a pair and do what is right for the people.
God Bless those who are willing to be FIRST RESPONDERS!
Fruitland couldnt even get out for their fire .
Apparently the SBY fire dept has stopped doing background checks
OMG
Will Y'all stop about Station 13 ect?
We have plenty of water in the Wicomico
Let's go back to the old time BUCKET BRIGADE
Today is April 15 th and Station 13 is still going to anything but Bingo and BQ chicken. Quit whining you losers
Anonymous said...
Lies
April 11, 2018 at 9:48 AM
Trust me, no lies. I was there. Good try though.
Anonymous said...
Station 6 is a leadership issue. Eric Tyler chief and Justin Shockley deputy chief . Justin can't run a simple call and Eric is to worried about loosing his spot to run a good department .
April 11, 2018 at 9:50 AM
Is Eric still married to that dude? He should take his gastric band somewhere else. He has never been a firefighter or medic much less a leader.
Anonymous said...
Parsonburg took 16 minutes to get to my house with a ambulance for my uncoisuous son .
April 11, 2018 at 9:51 AM
That is a pathetic response time. They rarely have anyone to drive and many times they have to wait for a medic to come from Pittsville which is too far.
When is Bob Culver going to wake up and make EMS a Countywide department.
Anonymous Anonymous said...
Wicomico County fire and ems is ineffective and inefficient. County response times, staffing, staffing standards, deployment, use of funds, and patient care are horrible. Wicomico County gives each of the County volunteer corporations money to spend as they please. This means that people who have no EMS knowledge or experience (other than driving an ambulance) makes the decisions in each company regarding how they will use that money. Wouldnt it be best determined as a County to coordinate the use of money to maximize the efficiency of it? As an example you have providers in 6,7,8, and 11. If there is a serious call or multiple calls do they combine to handle it, or do they wait for each company to fail individially? Unfortunately they fail. If there is a serious call on the Mt. Hermon side of Parsonsburg, does the powelville ALS provider respond to assist and attempt to get quick patient care? No they sit there and listen to the extended response time and/or time waiting for a driver. Why doesnt that County money being spent benefit the immediate need? Each company pays differently, which does noot benefit the bottom dollar. Volunteers are needed, but the days of depending on volunteers for every EMS call are over. Home response is a dangerous unreliable concept that the county throws over a million dollars at, a reliable EMS system is feasible on the County budget. The Volunteer Corporations fail to mention the billing money that they fail to put back into the system. Its time for the County to step up and provide for the citizens as they know they should.
April 11, 2018 at 5:19 PM
You think that is bad, Bob Culver is throwing more money at each fire station. Stupidity is all I can say. It's like an ambulance driver putting more bandaids on a major laceration and they are not even sticking. I was hoping Bob had a better plan than that. Now you are going to see Jack Heath come up with a palatable plan that voters will listen to. If Bob wants to win this election he better do better than this.
Anonymous said...
April 11, 2018 8:12am
Thank you for your comment, which made much more sense than the original post.
April 11, 2018 at 10:01 AM
Bahahahahahahaha! 8:12am is the same paid Farmin as 10:01 AM. Nice try Homey!
Anonymous Anonymous said...
I doubt they refused they just don't have the active man power. Parsonburg is circling the drain because of their chief .
April 11, 2018 at 9:48 AM
I couldn't agree more. It was circling the drain under Steve White, but Eric Tyler is no leader.
Eric Tyler is ruining everything for the Parsonsburg Vol. Fire Company because he is siding with the paid firemen of Salisbury against Station 13. While you volunteers of Parsonsburg have your heads in the sound Salisbury is going to take all over your territory and your company will dissolve. They have already annexed up to the college and beyond. They have already run water and sewer to Beaver Run School.They are running water across Rt. 50 to the One Stop Job Market and you are losing territory very fast.
Justin will you please learn to spell.
Why did a Salisbury ambulance respond to the bingo hall? Why did station13 not transport the patient in their ambulance from their station?
Read the FSA before you speak about it. A call to another departments district is not billable, so therefore Salisbury can’t bill for the call to Fruitland. Only billable for calls within the Salisbury fire district that is not in the city limits. Check your facts before you spew BS.
Now the ambulance call to 13’s bingo hall is billable to the county!
If you’re talking about Station 13, they WERE first responders already. At least on paper.... they were T Shirt wearers who couldn’t step up and actually do what was needed.
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