Accokeek VFD struggles with money, aging trucks

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

The department receives money from Prince George's County to help pay for its operating expenses, but still needs to raise an additional $200,000 annually. In 2008, the department managed to raise only $150,000, leaving a $50,000 shortfall, said Kathryn Fortgang, chief of the department.

The department is also faced with paying for repairs and replacements to its fleet of fire trucks and engines, which are nearing the end of their life span.

"[The trucks] break a lot," Fortgang said. "We go out on a call, and you have to fight them to pump water."

Accokeek VFD Lt. Joshua Carlson said in 2007, the department ran 90 fire calls and 72 EMS calls in Charles County. In 2008, the department ran 82 fire calls and 67 EMS calls in Charles. This year so far, the department has run 21 fire calls and 15 EMS calls in Charles.

Currently, the department owns five fire trucks; most are 10 to 20 years old and in need of an overhaul, Fortgang said. Fire engines generally have a 10-year lifespan, and a new truck would cost more than $500,000, she said. The department doles out $50,000 annually to maintain the fleet.

Glenn Sherman, president of the Accokeek Fire Association, said the Accokeek department receives money through the Prince George's County Station Management Fund, and the Prince George's Fire/EMS Department pays utilities.

Prince George's has started cutting back on the management fund — about four years ago, the department received up to $50,000 annually, but that has slipped to less than $30,000, county officials said.

"When the economy took a downturn, [the management fund] got scaled back," said Lt. Col. Karl Granzow, the department's deputy director of management service command. "It doesn't compromise the service."

Fire/EMS department officials said that like other volunteer fire departments in Prince George's, the Accokeek department receives about $300,000 annually from the county for maintenance, utilities, fuel and insurance, on top of money from the management fund.

Fortgang said her department has made ends meet over the years through fundraising with bingo nights, yard sales and dances, and Sherman credits the tightly knit 25-person volunteer staff with propelling the department despite equipment shortfalls by helping organize fundraisers.

But as the economy slides backward, so have donations.

The department filed for bankruptcy in 1997 and has been digging itself out of debt ever since, Fortgang said. And a boom of homes in the area has increased the demand for service.

"I would give anything for $1 million," Fortgang said. "In years past we've barely squeezed by. If we were to close, there would be a huge gap in service to Accokeek and its surrounding jurisdictions."

More money would go a long way in repairing aging fire trucks and facility equipment, Sherman said.

"It's a tough day every day," he said of keeping the fire department afloat. "The fire equipment is in desperate need of being overhauled, but without the funds there's not much we can do."

Granzow said the county holds its departments to high standards when it comes to fire equipment, adding that the Accokeek department is one of the strongest in Prince George's. "We're not going to leave Accokeek and the citizens of Accokeek high and dry," he said.

jgarner@gazette.net