The Washington Post
ACCOKEEK, Md. — Budget shortfalls have left the Accokeek Volunteer Fire Station struggling to pay its bills and cover mounting expenses from the repair of aging firetrucks and equipment, officials said.
The station receives money from Prince George’s County to help pay its operating expenses but needs to raise an additional $200,000 annually. Last year, the department raised only $150,000, Fire Chief Kathryn Fortgang said.
The station also faces the costs of repairing and replacing a fleet of firetrucks and engines that are nearing the end of their predicted life span.
The trucks “break a lot,” Fortgang said. “We go out on a call, and you have to fight them to pump water.”
The station owns five firetrucks, most of which are 10 to 20 years old and in need of an overhaul, Fortgang said. Fire engines generally last about 10 years, and a new truck would cost more than $500,000, she said. The station doles out $50,000 a year to maintain the fleet.
Glenn Sherman, president of the Accokeek Fire Association, said the Accokeek station receives money through the county’s Station Management Fund, and the Prince George’s Fire/EMS Department pays utilities. About four years ago, the station received as much as $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 officials said that like other volunteer fire stations, the Accokeek station 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 through fundraising with bingo nights, yard sales and dances. Sherman credits the tightly knit 25-person volunteer staff with helping to organize fundraisers that propel the station, despite equipment shortfalls.
But as the economy has slid backward, so have donations.
The station filed for bankruptcy in 1997 and has been digging out of debt since, Fortgang said. Meanwhile, a boom of home construction has increased the demand for service.
“In years past, we’ve barely squeezed by,” Fortgang said. “If we were to close, there would be a huge gap in service to Accokeek and its surrounding jurisdictions.”
Granzow said that the county holds its stations to high standards on fire equipment, and that even with its budget woes, the Accokeek station is one of the strongest.
“We’re not going to leave Accokeek and the citizens of Accokeek high and dry,” he said.
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