Kentland, MD Faces Suspension/Restrictions

[Future Fireman 4]

BRITTANY MOREHOUSE

Courtesy of WUSA-TV

PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, Md. (WUSA) - Another volunteer chief at Kentland Fire Station 33 has been suspended and the station's fire trucks won't be running as many calls.

Prince George's County Fire/EMS officials took action against the all-volunteer department after Kentland's acting chief, Tony Kelleher, rejected an offer to provide the station an ambulance with paid, career firefighters to staff the vehicle.

Back in February, Chief Lawrence H. Sedgwick ordered that all fire stations staff and maintain an ambulance. Kentland's Chief Mike Mattison was suspended in May for refusing to do so. At the time, volunteer firefighters wanted the county to provide career employees to run the ambulance around-the-clock.

Tuesday, Kelleher said he was "blindsided" during a meeting Monday with Chief Sedgwick's top aides. Kelleher said they give him less than 10 minutes to accept its offer for a staffed ambulance.

"He did not say no, but he did not say yes," said Prince George's County Fire/EMS Chief Spokesman Mark Brady. "Because we had a deadline and it was a strict deadline the fire chief was compelled to take disciplinary action against Kentland."

The county has stripped Kelleher of all operational duties and now forbids Station 33 from responding on most calls out of its first alarm area.

As the busiest volunteer fire department in the country, Kentland responds to an average of 21 calls per day. It offers specialized equipment to other companies in the area during emergencies. Kelleher said the county's new order puts lives in danger.

"The thing that puts people's lives in danger is because we have specialty apparatus, some stations that are going to be closer to the emergency won't have the same abilities that we do," he said.

Brady said the citizens will not see a reduction in services and the offer is still on the table.

"We would hope that at some point they would take on this ambulance especially with that offer for staffing for the ambulance. But at this point, they've not been able to say yes to that proposal," said Brady.

"Place an ambulance here," said Kelleher. "We'd like to have it, it is needed. The thing is, we just want a little help. Today the help was offered but it was offered in a sketchy way."

Kelleher claimed the volunteer station has been burned before by verbal promises. So until that proposal is in writing, he says his hands are tied.

Mike

[mfc2257 464]

This article is false.

1: The career staffing was only offered for the first 30 days. Then it would be removed and the burdon placed on the volunteers.

2: The offer for career staffing was taken away as soon as it was offered (within a week's time)

3: Sedgewick did not order that all stations maintain an ambulance and staff it. Stations 28 and 37 do no have an ambulance, nor are they being forced to comply like 33 is.

There were two 24/7 career staffed county owned BLS units in 33's first due for many years. The county removed them some time ago. Station 28 had an ambulance that used to run into 33's first due and it too was taken out of serivce.

There is a lot more to this story than just what the media and rumors have discussed. There is no denying that 33 needs a BLS unit in their first due. But as a Corporation that is an independant entity, it is not fair that the County Fire Department dictate that the Volunteers at 33 take on services that they are not interested in providing for free.

The fact of the matter is, that busiest engine or not, ego's at the station or not, these guys keep 2 pumpers, a rescue engine that runs as a full heavy squad company, a truck, and minipumper that runs EMS calls in service 24/7 365. They do it for free, and they are damn good at it. They can be jerks and egomaniacs, but they consistantly provide what is some of the best, if not the best, fire/rescue service in the county.

This has nothing to do with Kentland 33. What everyone should be looking at here (mostly the media) is that a private corporation should not be forced into providing something that they don't want to. Stations 28 and 37 don't want to provide BLS transport service either... no one is jumping down their throats.

[BIGRED1 71]

I'm confused here. The Kentland Vols don't want a paid ambulance in their fire house

Prince George's County Fire/EMS officials took action against the all-volunteer department after Kentland's acting chief, Tony Kelleher, rejected an offer to provide the station an ambulance with paid, career firefighters to staff the vehicle.

BUT in May they were singing a diffrent tune

Kentland's Chief Mike Mattison was suspended in May for refusing to do so. At the time, volunteer firefighters wanted the county to provide career employees to run the ambulance around-the-clock

Make up your mind guys. we all know you THINK your the best but when you reject aid because

the volunteer station has been burned before by verbal promises

and if i recall start brawls, ON THE FIRE GROUND, people are not really gonna be offer you much.

[firemoose827 324]

Talk about being placed between a rock and a hard place...they want the bus there as long as they provide staff for it and they have been burned before so obviously the chiefs gonna hold out for a written policy for it. It wasnt fair for them to give him 10 minutes and not be able to bring the matter to a dept meeting for discussion. Sounds like a bad situation. Wish them luck on resolving it peacefully.

[mfc2257 464]

This could turn into a downward spiral of conflicting opinions about what should or shouldn't be done.

The boys and gals at 33 offered to take the county owned / county staffed unit into their station. They offered to build a temporary building for it on the property as soon as possible. They also offered to donate a parcel of their property to the county so that the county could build a permenant EMS station for the unit. They have offered all of this to the county in writing.

The county has consistantly and frequently changed their offers / rules of engagement on this issue and won't put anything in writing.

The Membership of Kentland 33 is absolutely correct to not want to accept anything from the County at this point because the County's word has been shown to be worthless.

The Membership of Kentland 33 is not rejecting the prospect of an Ambulance in their station or on thier property. They are just not accpeting the County's terms for the deal.

Haven't we all rejected terms and tried to negotiate on various deals... Why shouldn't Kentland have the opporunity to negotiate for what they feel is best.

[Oswegowind 17]

Maybe the County needs to build an EMS Station in Kentland...then there would be no quarrel over who staffs it and where it is kept!

[firemoose827 324]

Oh boy...I should have waited a minute longer!! When I started my earlier post no one else had posted, when I hit send I saw a bunch of others with info I didnt know about. Whoooops!!

I had no idea all of this was going on...I agree with osweegowind about just building a county ems station, probably be easier to manage. Could they contract with an already existing Paid EMS agency? Are there any in the area that could? Dont know much of the area so Im just asking you guys out of curiosity.

[SageVigiles 1,194]

ECLEMENTE,

Different Chief, different opinion... If Kentland doesn't want to and/or cannot staff an ambulance, they shouldnt have a gun pointed to their heads to do it. If the county wants a bus, the county should pay for it, and pay the price to staff it.

No different from Putnam County. By not paying for a career unit, the County is saying they want a cheap (practically free) solution to a life safety issue. Sure, it would be CHEAPER to run a volunteer ambulance, but it may be less reliable as far as response times. Luckily the Kentland Volunteers are not as vain as the Fire Chief, because they could just as easily accept the bus, and when the tone cracks, mysteriously nobody is available to respond.

[IzzyEng4 427]

This has been brewing for a long time and from past articles, there has been a lot of friction between Chief Sedgwick and several of the houses through out PG County. I don't know about the career side if there is problems cause its seems to be either ok or hushed. But there is a lot of problems between several of the companies and the chief. One issue was with the merger of companies 2, 3 & 4 which is now station 55 and the two ladders they had their (Ladder 2 & Ladder 3). They ended up taking ladder 3 out of service (a tiller and newer I think) and there was a big uproar about it on the station's website and the merger of the three companies was supposed to be experimental (if memory serves me correctly). Now I don't know the logistics about it so I'm not going to speculate or argue about who, what, when where and why but this seems like the beginning of a long drawn out debate down there.

If I can find some of the stuff I had read (both sides) I'll link and post it here.

Looks like this is going to get really ugly.

[IzzyEng4 427]

Read this from Kentland dated 8/10/07

http://www.myfirecompanies.com/filelock/11...KentlandVFD.pdf

[ONLOCATION 24]

PGFD CHIEF LAWRENCE SEDGWICK JR. JEPORDIZES THE LIVES OF LOCAL CITIZENS

RESTRICTED

Monday, August 20, 2007- Today, at approx. 1330 hours the Prince George’s County Fire Department’s upper "management", under the direction of PGFD Chief Lawrence Sedgwick, Jr. requested a meeting with Kentland Acting Fire Chief Anthony Kelleher and one other Line Officer from Station 33. In short, the Kentland Volunteer Fire Department was verbaly offered eight (8) career personnel for the purpose of dedicated BLS transport unit staffing. Chief Kelleher stated that this was a very valid offer and he would need the offer in writing. He also requested to be given 24 hours to recieve approval from the Kentland Volunteer Fire Department, Inc.’s Board of Directors and governing membership body. Both of these requests were denied and Chief Kelleher was given approx. five minutes to give a decision. With this "set-up" style meeting there was no possible way to give a yes or no answer. Due to this fact the PGFD "management" presented Chief Kelleher with an already printed suspension letter and statement of charges. As Chief Kelleher and his line officer left the meeting they were also informed that as of 1900 hours, Fire Station 33 of the Kentland Volunteer Fire Department would be restricted to running emergency responses in the first due. Even if a Company from twice or three times the distance had to be dispatched to pass Company 33.

All of the fore mentioned events of course sparked a huge media interest and rightfully so. The Prince George’s County Fire Department and its "Chief" Lawrence Sedgwick, Jr. are willing to place the lives and property of the surrounding citizens in danger. Depriving them of fully staffed Engine Companies, Rescue Companies and a Ladder Company. For example, if an emergency were to occur in the Kettering/Largo area of the County at the intersection of Central Avenue and Campus Way North and Station 33 had its normal multiple crews the assignment would be:

NORMALLY:

Engine Companies

46 - 0.67 MILES

37 - 3.93 MILES

33 - 4.57 MILES

8 - 4.89 MILES

Ladder Companies

33 - 4.57 MILES

5 - 5.04 MILES

R.I.T. Third Special Service

33 - 4.57 MILES

WITHOUT COMPANY 33

Engine Companies

46 - 0.67 MILES

37 - 3.93 MILES

8 - 4.89 MILES

23 - 6.22 MILES

Ladder Companies

5 - 5.04 MILES

26 - 8.03 MILES

R.I.T. Third Special Service

28 - 7.46 MILES

As of right now this means an Engine Company will have to travel approximately two miles further, a Ladder Company will have to travel approximately four miles (twice the distance) and a Rescue Company or Rapid Intervention Team (firefighter safety and survival) will have to travel approximately three miles (just shy of twice the distance) to provide help. All while the volunteers at Company 33 sit in station and are receiving a punishment.

The Officers and the Membership of the Kentland Volunteer Fire Department, Inc. ask just who is being punished here? Its not the volunteers at Kentland its the citizens of Seat Pleasant, Chapel Oaks, Fairmont Heights, Glenn Dale, Bowie, Bladensburg East, Cheverly, Lanham, Kettering, Largo, Ritchie and other various areas.

Not only are the citizens lives in jeopardy from a reduction in services, but the firefighters that Company 33 responds with on a daily basis may have to wait extra time for relief, back-up or Rapid Intervention Efforts.

We ask "Fire Chief" Lawrence Sedgwick, Jr. this simple question: Is a personal vendetta and agenda really worth risking the lives of the citizens you took an oath to protect?

The citizens of this area need to know just one thing: Although the Kentland Volunteer Fire Department, Inc. is consistently intimidated, abused and unfairly treated by the Prince George’s County Fire Department, the volunteers of this great organization will continue to provide the community with excellent service no matter how hard times get. We have been dedicated, loyal and proud of who and what we are since the founding of this Company and vow to keep this same spirit alive. We are here for you!

**YOU CAN CONTACT PGFD CHIEF LAWRENCE SEDGWICK JR.’S OFFICE AT (301) 883-5200**

**LET HIM KNOW HOW YOU FEEL**

From www.kentland33.com

http://www.wusa9.com/video/player.aspx?aid...bw=hi&cat=2

[mfc2257 464]

It didn't take long for someone's life to hang in the balance with the decision to restrict Kentland Station 33 to their own first due.

Over the weekend, a motor vehicle accident with rollover and double ejection where both victims were pinned under the front and rear axles of their vehicle occured. On this incident, Rescue-Engine 33 (also known as E-333) would have normally been the first due Squad Company (as RE-33 is recognized by PG county as a Squad) on this particular box. When the first (second at this point) due Squad Company arrived (RE-18 Glenn Dale VFD) they quickly exhausted thier cribbing and airbag resources and needed the next due unit. Chief 18 wanted to special call RE-33 which would have allowed it to respond in light of it's restriction to 33's first due via the "special call". However, Bureau Chief 12 (BC-12) of the PGFD career staff ordered him to request the next due Squad on the run card. This was Rescue Squad 8 (RS-8) from the Seat Pleasent VFD (a combination of VFD and PGFD staffing).which took an additional 12 minutes to travel to the scene.

The fact of the matter is that RE-33 should have been first due, with RE-18 next. One of the patients expired while waiting for RS-8 to arrive and/or set up. It's not RS-8's fault, they never should have been due on the call.

Who knows the patient might have expired anyway, BUT we'll never know because they were alive when Chief 18 arrived, which means that because RE-33 was in quarters (they had long before returned from a run in thier first due) the patient would have been alive when RE-33 should have arrived first due, and RE-18 would have been next, thus saving the extra 12 minutes it took RS-8 to arrive.

BTW, all the apparatus that was on the scene had paid PGFD personnel on it. RE-33 would have arrived 100% volunteer and with little argument would have been the best suited/equipped to handle the job with the exception of RS-14 (the Seagrave monster from Berwin Heights VFD that everyone loves) which has 4 miles further to travel then RE-33. So the question that pains to be asked is why won't the county supply staffing for an ambulance in 33's first due when they are willing to supplement just about every other company in the county except 9, 33, 37?

[Guest]

I am awesomely disgusted.

[JM15 386]

That is crazy. This is a tough situation

[Guest partyrock]

Tragedy = change. Its always sad when it happens, but hopefully this one incident will be enough to initiate a change. I hope the local media is aware of this most recent turn of events.

[engine968 8]

I'm not familiar with the response system in P.G. County. What agency currently provides emergency-ambulance service in Kentland's district? And is it paid or vollie? Are the response times excessive, which would necessitate an ambulance at Station-33? Sounds like P.G. County government is a friggin' zoo. And here I thought my own Nassau County, Long Island was bad.........

[mfc2257 464]

Primary EMS response comes from the career EMS unit out of Kentland's other station (a different agency) Kentland Station 46. Other responses the other PG County stations that surround them. Some are 100% volunteer (Bladensburg St. 9) most of the others are combination stations where depending on the time of the day, you may get a 100% vollie, combo, or 100% career BLS or MICU.

Primary EMS response used to come from a dedicated career staffed unit (formerly known as Rescue 2 but it was not a rescue like Westchester knows it or heavy squad like PG calls it) that was permenantly stationed in Kendland's first due. The PGFD Chief (the chief of the combined county department) removed this service some time ago and it was never replaced. There was another dedicated career unit that was removed some time ago also. Company 28 pulled thier vollie/combo BLS unit some time ago as well.

[RWC130 594]

Any update on this whole mess in Kentland?

[Guest EFFP411]

This is absolutely disgusting to me. I am apalled by the outlandish and unjustified actions taken against these men and women. I do hope that they stick it out, and eventually "win the Battle". Hopefully they resolve this mess before someone dies because of it

[mfc2257 464]

It appears on the surface that the county is finally going to pay to staff the Ambo like they should have all along. It's not in writing yet though.

Also, Kentland station 33 (not 46) is still restricted to their first due, although they've been special called one or two times.

Also, Chief Tony Kellaher has not been reinstated as of this time.

It's a work in progress.

A-339 is also yet to go in service although rumor has it that it's been lettered and waiting at the shops for some time.

[mfc2257 464]

An update on this ongoing conversation.

Kentland Station 33 is no longer restricted to it's first due. They were dispatched to a small dwelling fire in Station 8's box area today as the third due engine (E331). They arrived second and assumed the second due rig's responsibilities of securing a continuous water supply for E81 and stretching the line to the second floor for extension.