UnCensored PGFD Forum

[TowerPower]

Check out the new uncensored forum at: http://www.amazingforums.com/forum/ARVFD/forum.html

[Dalmatian90]

I know the CDC and FDA are busy right now with this Anthrax thing and all. But after reading some of the threads there, and maybe some of the Paramedics here can help me out here, but I'm thinking something like, oh, aerosolized Prozac -- in PG County's SCBA Bottles?

[DeputyChiefGonzo]

Dal...why don't we go into business together and open some cheese shops in PG County...they sure do have enough whine!

[ 11-20-2001: Message edited by: Captain Gonzo ]

[joecanuk]

can you really buy aerosolized Prozac id be easier than given my dog those suppositorys

[Just a new name]

It is amazing that such a great department has so many worthless problems. I think it would be safer walking down the streets of the bronx with a tourist map then walking threw a firehouse there with my uniform on.

[thefyreman]

Please bear in mind that the vocal minority is largely what you get on a forum such as that one - there actually are quite a few firehouses in PG that the career and volunteer staff get along and work together. I'm not saying they love each other and there aren't problems now and then, but it's not all 'war' like it would sound from reading those posts. Just take it with a grain of salt.

[Grit76]

Ditto Fyreman.... he & I both volunteered at a station where we all got along well, including staying friends with some many years, into retirement.

Also, much of what looks like bashing is old fashioned firehouse banter - the kind that used to be common and resulted in building alot of character (sometimes characters)...... back when there wasn't so much "sensitivity"

[15 Truck]

"It is amazing that such a great department has so many worthless problems. I think it would be safer walking down the streets of the bronx with a tourist map then walking threw a firehouse there with my uniform on."

Kyle, you obviously don't live in Maryland or you could see through the smokescreen and realize that the PGFD is not a great department.

[enginecappy]

I suppose all the Fire Departments at the center of the universe, a.k.a NE Jersey, are completely devoid of "worthless" problems.

[thebigoneinbucks]

Randy your still Our hero in Bucks. From all your friends keep up the good work big guy.

[Just a new name]

NJ is by far not the center of the universe. Same problems here to, just not as bad as it seems down there. I forget the PGFD does make up many departments. I know its just firehouse fun. It just seems like things are a little crazy there. 15 truck, what I have heard from lots of diffent people on and off this web site is they are a great department.

[enginecappy]

Like the song says..."Sometimes Life (or in this case, the PGFD) aint what it seems".

Be Safe.

[Dalmatian90]

Phil, Grit and others...I'm sure you're right.

It does make me chuckle just how much "fighting" sometimes seems to be going on down there, and how vociferous it can be.

I suspect the very nature of PG County impacts it as well -- it does have a lot of very active, independent volunteer departments, under the umbrella of one organization.

Banter between seperate organizations in another area of the country might pass beneath the radar screen of most of us -- I couldn't name the departments in Morris County, NJ...or the Town of Hempstead let alone the entire Nassau County in New York and wouldn't know if they where having a bitching match with each other. Companies in PG fighting tend to be easy to pick out -- the refer to PG County a lot, and they use just numbers a lot (and what about 90!) -- so your squabbles just seem more obvious.

I also get the impression there are two major factors right now making the squabbling worse -- the balance between EMS and Fire, and the maturing of the suburbs in PG County (with the accompanying stagnation/loss of tax base, social issues, etc). And those aren't much different than much if not most of the U.S.!

[Just a new name]

How does PGFD work? It seems that there some sort of shared service or something. I take it they all fall under the name PGFD though?

[Dalmatian90]

(A brief history by a non-PGer, non-Marylander, so some details may be off, but the essence is right...)

Maryland is a State that uses County Gov't heavily, particulary for a state as far north and east as it is.

Prince George's County abuts Washington, DC and saw suburbanization from the 1920s through to today -- heavily so in the 1950s and 60s and early 1970s.

Beginning as early as the 1930s, more during the war years in the 1940s, and more so during growth years of the 50s and 60s the volunteer departments in the county began hiring paid daytime drivers, and in some cases paid drivers 24x7 for their stations.

In the 1970s PG County adopted a new charter, which gave the County a style of gov't much more like a City than what most people think of for Counties. Part of that Charter put the independent volunteer fire departments under the command & control of the County Fire Chief.

The paid staff of the volunteer fire companies transferred to the PG County Fire Department's payroll. There are 47 Stations, staffed by a combined force of 1200 career and volunteer firefighters, protecting 500 sq. miles and 800,000 people.

The county ranges from affluent areas, to University campuses, to some rural areas, to decaying urban areas. Some volunteer departments are very strong, some are average, some are weak to almost defunct.

The Volunteers join one of the existing Volunteer Departments, however they have to meet fairly strict requirements laid down by PG County in order to respond to calls. Virtually all volunteers, except Chief level officers, stay at the station when on duty and respond from there -- very little need for pagers.

Each of the VFDs has it's own Chief, and up to 2 ***'t Chiefs per station (so if a VFD has two stations, it may have 3 or 4 A/C). PG County provides command Battalion Chiefs during the daytime shift only; evenings and weekends the Volunteer Chiefs represent the vast majority of the command staff. There are also Volunteer Division and Deputy Chiefs within PG County, who are usually Chiefs of their own VFD, and respond to assist at major incidents in other VFD's areas. Some career staff is on 24 hours a day, although career staffing is concentrated during the day on weekdays.

In addition to county funds, many of the VFDs continue to conduct their own fundraisers, and often own their own stations and their own apparatus. You'll find even within a single station some equipment owned by the County, some by the local VFD.

But at the end of the day, the County Fire Chief has ultimate authority, despite the VFDs having considerable autonomy.

Did I just make that clear as mud?
Poke around http://www.co.pg.md.us/Safety/Fire/stations.html

Matt