Fire rescue budget takes a hit

Nighttime EMS resources from Laytonsville and Glen Echo are shifted to reduce overtime costs

Emergency services should be last on the budget chopping block, according to Stanley Sutton Jr., chief of the Laytonsville District Volunteer Fire Department.

‘‘We’re very disappointed that [Fire Chief Tom Carr] would take staffing out of Laytonsville to staff another station,” he said. ‘‘...We feel this will hamper the services we are able to provide.”

The redeployment was first outlined in a savings plan sent to the County Council last year that included $3.7 million in fire rescue cuts. The council rejected many public safety cuts, including shifting staffing from the Laytonsville and Glen Echo stations.

Shifting two nighttime EMS staffers each from Laytonsville and Glen Echo elsewhere in the county would save $400,000, according to the savings plan. Between 5 p.m. and 7 a.m., Laytonsville would have four career staffers instead of the current six, Sutton said. The station relies on both career and volunteer workers and needs a minimum of eight people to man its tanker, ambulance, engine company and rescue squad.

‘‘Those two people make a big difference,” he said.

Officials took another look at the previous cost-cutting recommendations and determined that reducing overtime hours would not hurt response times, Carr said.

‘‘As we analyze our service delivery, these are the most logical cuts with the least impact,” he said. ‘‘...I know this is a bitter pill for them, and any budget cuts in a time of organizational growth are trying. Our organization is growing because the county is growing.”