Running calls-that’s what the Kentland (MD) Volunteer Fire Department in Prince George’s County is all about.

And, Kentland’s busiest unit is its rescue engine, a Pierce Dash heavy-duty rescue-pumper. This hybrid unit was purchased in 2000 to serve a dual role. First was to supply a much-needed extrication and rescue unit for one of the busiest areas of the Washington, D.C., Capitol Beltway, and surrounding roadways. Second was to provide a backup unit to the busy engine company out of the firehouse located on Landover Road. After a long vetting process with the county fire department, the apparatus was granted status to run as a rescue squad and an engine company on the dispatch run cards. This created a very active and well-traveled rig that responded to all types of incidents within the county and beyond during its 15 years of service.

Surprise Ending

April 6, 2015, was just another busy day for the members of Kentland and the entire Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department-one of the largest combination departments in the country. There are 860 career firefighters and 1,600 volunteers that respond to an estimated 142,000 calls each year. They protect more than 500 square miles out of 45 fire stations. Like any other active day, fire and emergency medical service (EMS) units were busy responding all over the county. Units were clearing a fire in the Kettering section of the county when another box alarm was struck for a commercial building fire on Ashwood Drive in Company 37’s area. Four engine companies, two ladder trucks, two command officers, and Kentland’s rescue-engine were dispatched by the communications center.

Units had no doubt they were going to work as a very large column of black smoke could be seen from the area. As units arrived on the scene, a request for a second alarm was transmitted because the fire involved a number of vehicles, roofing materials, a storage yard, and a building. The department has a set of standard operating procedures that dictates apparatus placement on building fires and each unit’s responsibilities on arrival. Rescue Engine 33, acting as the second-arriving special, was assigned to side C of the structure. They positioned on side C of the D exposure about 300 feet from the fire building. To execute their objectives, they had to cut through a number of protective fences for the large number of commercial properties in this location.

1 The Kentland (MD) Fire Department’s Rescue Engine 33, a 2000 Pierce Dash heavy-duty rescue-pumper. [Photos courtesy of the Kentland (MD) Fire Department unless otherwise noted.]

The officer in charge (OIC) of Rescue Engine 33 gave returns (radio reports) on the conditions of the fire building and the multiple exposure buildings. Although there was some heat from the fire, the conditions in the storage yard were tenable. As other units began to arrive and worked to establish a water supply in the rear, the crew of the rescue engine was able to examine and report the conditions of the fire building and exposures. Approximately eight minutes into the incident, the winds shifted toward side C, and conditions immediately deteriorated to near-zero visibility and high heat.

As the fire reached pallets in the rear, the storage yard of foam-type insulation panels became a flaming, molten liquid that began to follow the path of the terrain, igniting everything it touched. Within seconds, what had been a tenabl

Running calls-that’s what the Kentland (MD) Volunteer Fire Department in Prince George’s County is all about.

And, Kentland’s busiest unit is its rescue engine, a Pierce Dash heavy-duty rescue-pumper. This hybrid unit was purchased in 2000 to serve a dual role. First was to supply a much-needed extrication and rescue unit for one of the busiest areas of the Washington, D.C., Capitol Beltway, and surrounding roadways. Second was to provide a backup unit to the busy engine company out of the firehouse located on Landover Road. After a long vetting process with the county fire department, the apparatus was granted status to run as a rescue squad and an engine company on the dispatch run cards. This created a very active and well-traveled rig that responded to all types of incidents within the county and beyond during its 15 years of service.

Surprise Ending

April 6, 2015, was just another busy day for the members of Kentland and the entire Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department-one of the largest combination departments in the country. There are 860 career firefighters and 1,600 volunteers that respond to an estimated 142,000 calls each year. They protect more than 500 square miles out of 45 fire stations. Like any other active day, fire and emergency medical service (EMS) units were busy responding all over the county. Units were clearing a fire in the Kettering section of the county when another box alarm was struck for a commercial building fire on Ashwood Drive in Company 37’s area. Four engine companies, two ladder trucks, two command officers, and Kentland’s rescue-engine were dispatched by the communications center.

Units had no doubt they were going to work as a very large column of black smoke could be seen from the area. As units arrived on the scene, a request for a second alarm was transmitted because the fire involved a number of vehicles, roofing materials, a storage yard, and a building. The department has a set of standard operating procedures that dictates apparatus placement on building fires and each unit’s responsibilities on arrival. Rescue Engine 33, acting as the second-arriving special, was assigned to side C of the structure. They positioned on side C of the D exposure about 300 feet from the fire building. To execute their objectives, they had to cut through a number of protective fences for the large number of commercial properties in this location.

1 The Kentland (MD) Fire Department’s Rescue Engine 33, a 2000 Pierce Dash heavy-duty rescue-pumper. [Photos courtesy of the Kentland (MD) Fire Department unless otherwise noted.]

The officer in charge (OIC) of Rescue Engine 33 gave returns (radio reports) on the conditions of the fire building and the multiple exposure buildings. Although there was some heat from the fire, the conditions in the storage yard were tenable. As other units began to arrive and worked to establish a water supply in the rear, the crew of the rescue engine was able to examine and report the conditions of the fire building and exposures. Approximately eight minutes into the incident, the winds shifted toward side C, and conditions immediately deteriorated to near-zero visibility and high heat.

As the fire reached pallets in the rear, the storage yard of foam-type insulation panels became a flaming, molten liquid that began to follow the path of the terrain, igniting everything it touched. Within seconds, what had been a tenabl

Chris Mc Loone

Although my career in the volunteer fire service differs from others’ experiences, I think one thing that can be said for most, if not all, is that there are years when you get big chunks of new members, and then there are lighter years when you might get one to three new members.

When I joined in 1993, I was one of seven who joined that year. There are three of us left. The next big influx came in the early 2000s after we started our junior firefighter program. There are one or two left from that group.

Our most recent group to join came in between 2008 and 2010. This group joined at an exciting time. There was enough work to keep them busy and learning, and we were spec’ing a new pumper that was delivered in 2010. Our rescue truck was still relatively new. They all joined as junior firefighters, so they actually have two more years in the company than most of us had when we were their age. They all knew each other, for the most part. One of them has brought his brother into the fire company.

In any group like this, you have those who can’t wait to get ahead and are sometimes almost too enthusiastic. You know they are going to go places if they would just slow down a little bit. There are those who are quiet, who show up and do everything they’re told, whom you can rely on, and who are obviously going to move up the ladder as they progress but are not “in your face” about it. They do what they do and, as things come up, they will move into positions of greater responsibility. There are also those who expect to move up the ladder. There is no doubt in your mind that there is absolutely no doubt in theirs that they are going places. And, then there are those who will fade away. They arrive with vim and vigor, but life just has a lot more going on for them than the firehouse. They’re not bad firefighters or workers, they just have less time for the firehouse than others.

All those in the group I’m describing are going through a transitional time right now-they are all learning to drive the apparatus or are about to start. It’s almost a whole different type of adrenaline when you are a new driver and are responding to your first job as a pump operator. It’s a whole different deal. As a pump operator, I always find the first five minutes of a fire-getting the truck to the scene, charging lines, securing a water supply, making sure the light towers are up, helping get ground ladders off-to be the most exciting. And, these guys are going to learn soon how exciting-or how anticlimactic, depending on where they end up-driving can be. I’m glad this group comprises our next crop of drivers. They listen. They learn. They will all be good apparatus operators. But, I’m going to lose them on the fireground as crew. It’s a necessary part of the process. Luckily, we have a good core coming in to take their places.

In the not-so-distant future, this group of firefighters will get the itch to start “riding the seat.” Some will say, “Finally-I get to run for lieutenant.” Others will say, “If they need me, I’ll run for lieutenant.” And, of course, there’s the group who will think, “I’m going to be the next lieutenant.”

The group I’ve described arrived at the firehouse when I was still a newer lieutenant having a hard enough time trying to establish myself as an officer let alone bring up junior firefighters. I was a driver/operator/engineering officer for about eight years before moving up into a lieutenant’s spot. I am hoping that these folks will stay drivers for a whil

Chris Mc Loone

Although my career in the volunteer fire service differs from others’ experiences, I think one thing that can be said for most, if not all, is that there are years when you get big chunks of new members, and then there are lighter years when you might get one to three new members.

When I joined in 1993, I was one of seven who joined that year. There are three of us left. The next big influx came in the early 2000s after we started our junior firefighter program. There are one or two left from that group.

Our most recent group to join came in between 2008 and 2010. This group joined at an exciting time. There was enough work to keep them busy and learning, and we were spec’ing a new pumper that was delivered in 2010. Our rescue truck was still relatively new. They all joined as junior firefighters, so they actually have two more years in the company than most of us had when we were their age. They all knew each other, for the most part. One of them has brought his brother into the fire company.

In any group like this, you have those who can’t wait to get ahead and are sometimes almost too enthusiastic. You know they are going to go places if they would just slow down a little bit. There are those who are quiet, who show up and do everything they’re told, whom you can rely on, and who are obviously going to move up the ladder as they progress but are not “in your face” about it. They do what they do and, as things come up, they will move into positions of greater responsibility. There are also those who expect to move up the ladder. There is no doubt in your mind that there is absolutely no doubt in theirs that they are going places. And, then there are those who will fade away. They arrive with vim and vigor, but life just has a lot more going on for them than the firehouse. They’re not bad firefighters or workers, they just have less time for the firehouse than others.

All those in the group I’m describing are going through a transitional time right now-they are all learning to drive the apparatus or are about to start. It’s almost a whole different type of adrenaline when you are a new driver and are responding to your first job as a pump operator. It’s a whole different deal. As a pump operator, I always find the first five minutes of a fire-getting the truck to the scene, charging lines, securing a water supply, making sure the light towers are up, helping get ground ladders off-to be the most exciting. And, these guys are going to learn soon how exciting-or how anticlimactic, depending on where they end up-driving can be. I’m glad this group comprises our next crop of drivers. They listen. They learn. They will all be good apparatus operators. But, I’m going to lose them on the fireground as crew. It’s a necessary part of the process. Luckily, we have a good core coming in to take their places.

In the not-so-distant future, this group of firefighters will get the itch to start “riding the seat.” Some will say, “Finally-I get to run for lieutenant.” Others will say, “If they need me, I’ll run for lieutenant.” And, of course, there’s the group who will think, “I’m going to be the next lieutenant.”

The group I’ve described arrived at the firehouse when I was still a newer lieutenant having a hard enough time trying to establish myself as an officer let alone bring up junior firefighters. I was a driver/operator/engineering officer for about eight years before moving up into a lieutenant’s spot. I am hoping that these folks will stay drivers for a whil