Prince George's County Fire and EMS Department Reallocates Staff to Address Shortages, Burnout – NBC4 Washington

Lina Portman7 days ago

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Prince George's County Fire and Emergency Services chief is considering moving dozens of firefighters from four stations to other parts of the county to address a critical staffing shortage, but three municipalities have gone to court to challenge the move, citing concerns it could be dangerous.

Chief Tiffany Green says the department is moving 55 firefighters to address shortages and burnout heading into the peak summer vacation season. Safety will not be affected, she said.

“The 55 people we are redeploying will fill vacancies across the county, and that is again our goal: to ensure they are not called back for mandatory overtime and standby stays, but we fill the vacancies and distribute them. our resources throughout the county,” Green said.

The department is removing 24 firefighters from Station 835 in Greenbelt, five from Station 839 in Bowie, six from Station 814 Berwyn Heights and 20 from Station 855 in Bunker Hill.

Green says firefighters are stressed and some are quitting.

“What I saw last year was burnout, fatigue and mental and physical challenges because of these postponements,” she said.

Local governments in Berwyn Heights, College Park and Greenbelt have filed lawsuits to try to stop the project, saying it would make their communities less safe.

The Prince George's County Volunteer Fire and Rescue Association is also resisting.

“We have this plan that the fire chief presented to us and we have to try to implement it even if it's going to hurt people,” Chairman Lee Lutz said.

He says the association was not involved in the process. According to her, the firefighters will take longer to arrive on the scene.

“It's going to impact response times because they're pulling firefighters out of the stations and basically those stations will probably be out of service during the day,” Lutz said.

Green said the shortage is part of a national problem. She added that the department pays $30 million a year in overtime.

The department has approval for 150 new firefighters, but it takes time to hire and train them.

Thirty-two firefighters will complete their training in July. Another 53 began their training this month.

The reassignment plan begins Sunday and will be reevaluated in October.