Branchville Fire Department
In next week’s worksession, teh City Council will discuss the recent staffing issues at the Branchville Fire Volunteer Fire Department.
Recent reassignment of County Fire/EMS career staff from the Branchville VFC&RS station has resulted in that station being staffed solely by volunteers. The College Park VFD and Berwyn Heights VFD stations continue to have weekday career staffing. The County advanced life support (ALS) “medic” unit stationed at CPVFD is staffed 24/7.
Berwyn Heights, Branchville, and College Park fire stations are the three stations with first due response assignments in most of the City. These are the volunteer stations which are provided annual City support grants. Council Members have heard reports regarding the impact of staff changes on response to calls for service from the community and increased demand on adjacent stations when BVFC & RS is not available. Council has also heard of various ideas for future station relocations or
mergers.
County Fire/EMS Chief Bashoor, and Volunteer Chiefs Corrigan (CPVFD), Leizear (BVFC&RS), and McCoy (BHVFD) have been invited to participate in the Council work session on 4 March 14. They will be able to provide accurate and current information to the Council regarding staffing, service demands, and future facility and staffing plans.