Residents near the Riverdale Heights Fire/EMS Station say they're worried that recent staffing cutbacks at their station will result in longer emergency response times.
The Riverdale Heights station was one of four affected by a staffing plan meant to cut costs. It was announced July 27 by Prince George's County Fire Chief Eugene A. Jones.
Paid staff who typically work daytime shifts at the Riverdale Heights Fire/EMS Station 813 have been reassigned to Landover Hills, making Riverdale Heights a volunteer-only station.
About 30 Riverdale Heights-area residents met with Jones on Aug. 6 to ask about the cutbacks. Jones, who was appointed July 14, said the cuts were necessary to make up for a budget shortfall and were partly a result of cuts to the overtime budget.
"When I first took over the job here, within two hours I was asked to cut the fire department's budget by $4.5 million," he said.
Residents questioned why their station, which also services the Templeton Knolls, East Pines, Riverdale Hills and Crestwood neighborhoods, was chosen among others in the county.
"I felt in this area that the stations were close enough," Jones said. "There are 22 fire stations within 1.5 miles of each other."
Nearby stations to Riverdale Heights include ones in Riverdale Park, Landover Hills and Bladensburg.
As part of the new staffing plan, paid firefighters at the Capitol Heights Fire/EMS Station 805 have also been reassigned, and the Chillum Fire/EMS Station 831 has lost fire service but has retained emergency medical services. Calverton Fire/EMS Station 841 was also supposed to be closed with the loss of career firefighters, but volunteers in nearby Beltsville agreed to increase coverage.
Despite assurances that response times wouldn't be affected by the cuts, residents worried about not having daytime emergency personnel within the community.
"We have a huge elderly population, a middle school," said Marty Newman, president of the Riverdale Heights/Riverdale Hills/Crestwood Community Association. "I think the need is so great here to have personnel here during the day."
Joanne Carni, 70, agreed.
"My husband had heart surgery, and if he ends up having an emergency, he's going to sit there and wait," she said.
Jones said that ambulances are constantly deployed and usually respond from their last call, not from their home stations.
The Riverdale Heights' company's president Kenny Gilroy said that since the cutbacks his volunteers have been taking time off from their regular daytime jobs to keep the station staffed during the day.
"So far we've been able to provide the service," he said.
But he worried how much longer the station can keep that up once vacation time runs out and some of his volunteers return to school in the fall.
Fire officials at the meeting said they hoped the changes to the Riverdale Heights station were temporary, and Jones emphasized the need for the county and volunteer organizations to work together in recruiting youth to become firefighters.
Templeton Knolls Civic Association president Alice Bishop said she was worried about the lack of community involvement in the decision.
"Now we're holding this meeting when we should have done this in the beginning," she said.
E-mail Elahe Izadi at eizadi@gazette.net.
