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Chillum residents say they are angry over a county budget-cutting plan that maintains emergency medical service but eliminates fire service at a nearby station.

Prince George's County Fire Chief Eugene A. Jones met with Chillum residents Aug. 13 to explain his reasoning behind staffing cutbacks the county has imposed at the Chillum Fire/EMS Station No. 831 at 6330 Riggs Road.

The Chillum station was one of four affected by a staffing plan announced July 27 by Jones meant to cut costs in the face of a shrinking budget. The policy consolidates paid firefighters into fewer stations.

Under the plan, officials transferred the station's four firefighters to the Chillum-Adelphi Fire Station, slightly more than a mile away, and the Bunker Hill Fire Station in Mount Rainier.

The station still provides emergency medical services and received an Advanced Life Support Paramedic unit under the new plan.

Jones told residents that a shortfall in county revenue forced him to institute the transfers to cut overtime spending.

He added that he is restricted by a union contract that requires four paid firefighters to be on duty in each staffed station at all times. Previously, if one of Chillum's four paid firefighters called out sick, the department would have paid a firefighter overtime to cover the shift.

By putting more firefighters together in one place, Jones said, he doesn't have to bring in firefighters to work overtime if one calls in sick.

Jones told residents that the community still has sufficient fire coverage because the county operates 22 fire stations within a 1.5 mile area that includes Chillum.

About 45 residents attended the meeting, many of whom said they were concerned over the lack of community involvement leading to the decision.

"This is a meeting that should have been held three months ago," resident Ed Crooks said. "The taxpayers at least should have been given the respect due to give some input on the decision."

Residents also said the Chillum area is especially in need of quick fire response including the three nursing homes, area schools and apartment buildings near the station.

The closest fire stations to the Chillum station are about a mile away and are in Takoma Park, Adelphi, Hyattsville and Washington, D.C.

Moving Chillum's firefighters to nearby stations in Adelphi and Mount Rainier is still problematic, resident Leory Jefferson said

"The problem I have with that is that's a very congested area," he said. "[Response time] makes a world of difference to me."

Imani Kazana, president of the Avondale/North Woodridge Citizens Association, said the top concern among residents is response time.

"We need somebody who's going to get to us quickly, in our area, not five minutes later when the [house] is all engulfed in flames," she said.

As part of the new staffing plan, paid firefighters at the Capitol Heights Fire/EMS Station No. 805 and Riverdale Heights Fire/EMS Station No. 813 also have been reassigned.

Calverton Fire/EMS Station No. 841 also was supposed to have closed with the loss of career firefighters, but volunteers in nearby Beltsville agreed to cover the gap.

Jones agreed to return to Chillum in September to hold another meeting in which he will inform residents of his short-term and long-term plans to re-staff the fire station.

Residents have told them that they want the station staffed as it was, he said.

"I want to do that, too, so we agree," he added. "But I'm responding to my budget."

E-mail Elahe Izadi at eizadi@gazette.net.