Montgomery County Department of Fire and Rescue Services
Agency overview
Annual calls~110,000
Annual budget~$230,000,000
Staffing1,200+ career
Fire chiefJohn Kinsley (Interim)
EMS levelALS and BLS
IAFF1664
Motto
  • French: Gardez Bien
  • (in English) Guard Well
Facilities and equipment
Battalions5
Stations43 (figure includes volunteer corporation-owned firehouses, county-owned fire stations, and fire stations located on federal facilities)
Engines41
Trucks17
Rescues6
Ambulances50
HAZMAT2
Light and air2
Website
MontgomeryCountyMD.gov/MCFRS
https://www.iafflocal1664.org/

The Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service (MCFRS), officially the Montgomery County Department of Fire and Rescue Services (DFRS), is the public safety agency that provides fire protection and emergency medical services for Montgomery County, Maryland. The services are provided by a combination of paid county personnel and volunteer members of the various independent, non-profit volunteer fire and rescue corporations located throughout the county.

History

MCFRS personnel with FBI agents at the Pentagon a day after the September 11 attacks in 2001.

Recruit Class 1 for MCFRS begins 2/29/1988.

The MCFRS went to Oklahoma City in 1995 to conduct USAR operations after the Oklahoma City bombing.[1]

In 2001, the MCFRS went to Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia aboard RideOn buses to assist in urban search and rescue (USAR) efforts immediately after the September 11 attacks.[1]

In 2004, the County Council passed legislation to reorganize the Fire & Rescue Service by placing all personnel, career and volunteer, under the command of a single fire chief. However, actual services are delivered from local fire and rescue companies, who own and operate the fire stations in the county. The county uses an incident command system to coordinate the efforts of paid and volunteer personnel at the scenes of emergencies. Montgomery County works closely with and has mutual aid agreements with Washington, D.C., Fairfax, Frederick, Howard, and Prince George's counties.[2][3]

In April 2020, MCFRS implemented a COVID-19 Surge Plan which included the staffing of more BLS ambulances, as well as moving ALS providers from AFRA and medic units to chase cars. This, paired with a continuous Blue Alert, which goes in effect when an EMS jurisdictional system is temporarily taxed to its limits in providing pre hospital care and ambulance transportation due to extraordinary situations that contribute to high demand for ambulance service, and decontamination teams stationed at each of the main hospitals in the county enabled proper patient distribution and lessoned the burden on the system. The Plan was ended in June 2020.

On June 30, 2023, Fire Chief Scott Goldstein left MCFRS for a fire and rescue department in Cowlitz County, Washington. Goldstein had been chief since June 2015.[4]

Stations and Apparatus

The county is broken into five battalions, with a total of 36 fire stations and 2 rescue squads.

StationCompanyBattalionEngine Company or Paramedic Engine CompanySpecial Service UnitsEMS UnitsOther units
1Silver Spring VFD1st BattalionPE701M701, A701, A701B, ALS701DCN701
2Takoma Park VFD1st BattalionPE702, E702BA702, A702B
3Rockville VFD3rd BattalionPE703, PE703BAT703, RS703M703, A703, A703B, A703C, ALS703SU703, UT703B, UT703C
4Sandy Spring VFD4th BattalionPE704A704W704
5Kensington VFD - Old Town4th BattalionPE705, PE705BA705, A705B, ALS705B705, CT705
6Bethesda FD2nd BattalionPE706T706A706
7*Chevy Chase FD2nd BattalionPE707A/M707 (BCCRS staffed)HM707, UT707
8Gaithersburg-Washington Grove VFD3rd BattalionPE708PAT708M708, A708, A708B, A708C, ALS708 CT708, B708, UT708, UT708B, UTV708, BUTV708
9Hyattstown VFD5th BattalionPRE709, RBE709B709, B709B, W709, UT709, UTV709
10*Cabin John Park VFD2nd BattalionPE710, E710BT710A710, ALS710SW710, SW710B, UT710
11Glen Echo FD2nd BattalionPE711 A711, A711B, ALS711UT711,

UTV711

12Hillandale VFD1st BattalionPE712M712, A712BC701, UT712, UTV712
13Damascus VFD5th BattalionPE713, E713B,

BE713

 M713, A713B713, W713
14*Upper Montgomery County VFD5th BattalionPRE714,

BE714

 M714

A714 (Volunteer staffed when available)

UT714, UTV714, B714, CT714, BT714, SW714, W714
15Burtonsville VFD1st BattalionPE715,

PE715B

 T715, RS715M715, A715B715, UT715
16Silver Spring VFD - Four Corners1st BattalionPE716T716A716MAU716
17Laytonsville VFD5th BattalionPE717, EW717, BE717RS717A717B717, CT717, W717
18Kensington VFD - Glenmont4th BattalionPE718AT718A718EMS704, CP718
19Silver Spring VFD - Montgomery Hills1st BattalionPE719AT719
20*Bethesda FD - Midtown Bethesda2nd BattalionPE720BC702
21Kensington VFD - Viers Mill Village4th BattalionPE721A721
22Kingsview (MCFRS)5th BattalionPE722, BE722A722MAB722, MCSU722, W722, B722
23*Rockville VFD - Twinbrook3rd BattalionPE723AT723M723, A723
24Hillandale VFD - Colesville1st BattalionPE724, E724BAT724A724

A724B (Volunteer staffed when available)

 B724
25*Kensington VFD - Aspen Hill4th BattalionPE725T725ALS725, A725, A725B, A725C BC704, SU725, BT725
26Bethesda FD - North Bethesda2nd BattalionPE726A/M726 (BCCRS staffed)EMS702, MAB726, MCSU726
27Public Safety Training Academy (MCFRS)E727, E727BT727CP727
28*Gaithersburg-Washington Grove VFD - Derwood3rd BattalionPE728A728HM728
29Germantown VFD5th BattalionPE729, PE729BRS729M729, A729BT729, SU729
30*Cabin John Park VFD - Potomac2nd BattalionPE730A730W730, B730, SW730, SW730B, UT730
31*Rockville VFD - Quince Orchard3rd BattalionPE731T731M731BT731, W731, TR700, TR700B, SU731, UT731, UTV731
32Travilah (MCFRS)3rd BattalionPE732A732, M732BC703, EMS703, SA700, DC700, CP732
33Rockville VFD - Potomac3rd BattalionPE733A733B733, CT733, MAU733
34Milestone (MCFRS)5th BattalionPE734T734A734DCN734, BC705
35Clarksburg (MCFRS)5th BattalionPE735AT735A735
40Sandy Spring VFD - Olney4th BattalionPE740AT740A740B740, BT740, CT740, UT740, UTV740, BUTV740
Rescue Co. 1 Bethesda-Chevy Chase Rescue Squad 2nd Battalion RS741, RS741B M741, A741B, A/M741C, A/M741D, ALS741, UT741
Rescue Co. 2 Wheaton Volunteer Rescue Squad 4th Battalion RS742, RS742B A742, A742B, A742C, A742D, ALS742, ALS742B UT742, UTV742
50NDW Bethesda (Federal)E750, E750BM750
51National Institute of Health (Federal)E751AT751A751HM751
52Naval Surface Warfare Center (Federal)E752
53National Institutes of Standards and Technology (Federal)E753A753HM753 B753
54Fort Detrick Forest Glen Annex (Federal)E754, E754BHM754 SU754

Stations listed in the above chart with red "(MCFRS)" or green "(Federal)" next to their names are government-owned. Stations that do not say "(MCFRS)" or "(Federal)" belong to volunteer fire & rescue corporations.

* Denotes Special Operations Station

  • Stations 7, 28, 20, 25 - Hazmat Response Team
  • Stations 10, 30, 14 - Swift Water Rescue Team
  • Stations 25, 29, 31 - Technical Rescue Team (TRT)
  • Station 23 - Emergency Response Team (ERT)

Abbreviations:

  • A - Ambulance
  • ALS - Paramedic Chase Vehicle
  • AT - Aerial Tower
  • B - Brush
  • BC - Battalion Chief
  • BE - Brush Engine
  • BS - Boat Support
  • BT - Boat
  • BUTV - Brush Utility Task Vehicle
  • CT - Canteen
  • CP - Command Post
  • DC - Duty Operations Chief
  • E - Engine
  • EMS - EMS Duty Officer
  • EW - Engine Tanker
  • HM - HazMat Unit
  • M - Medic Unit
  • MAB - Medical Ambulance Bus
  • MAU - Mobile Air Unit
  • MCSU - Medical Care Support Unit
  • PAT - Paramedic Aerial Tower
  • PBE - Paramedic Brush Engine
  • PE - Paramedic Engine
  • PRE - Paramedic Rescue Engine
  • RE - Rescue Engine
  • RS - Rescue Squad
  • SA - Safety Officer
  • SU - Support Unit
  • SW - Swift Water
  • T - Truck
  • TR - Technical Rescue
  • UTV - Utility Task Vehicle
  • W - Tanker

See also

Further reading

  • "Bethesda Fire Department, Inc. - History". Bethesda Fire Department, Inc. Retrieved 2018-08-01.
  • "Glen Echo Fire Department - about GEFD". Glen Echo Fire Department. Archived from the original on 2006-07-15. Retrieved 2007-01-01.
  • "Montgomery County Volunteer Fire and Rescue Association - about us". Montgomery County Volunteer Fire and Rescue Association. Archived from the original on 2007-10-09. Retrieved 2007-01-01.

References

  1. 1 2 911NewsCoverage (4 July 2014). "ABC (WJLA) 9-11-2001 News Coverage 11:00 PM - 12:00 AM". Archived from the original on 2021-12-19 – via YouTube.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  2. ↑ "Council Approves Changes to Fire & Rescue Services" (PDF) (Press release). Montgomery County Government. May 4, 2004. Retrieved 2007-01-01.
  3. ↑ Parrish, Warren (June 9, 2004). "County volunteer firefighters endorse restructuring law". The Gazette Newspapers. Retrieved 2007-01-01.
  4. ↑ "Message From The Chief". Cowlitz 2 Fire. Retrieved 2024-01-11.
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