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During a string of what fire union Local 1619 describes as a “long trend of increased call volume” on Friday, Jan. 27, two engines from Prince George’s County Fire/EMS were placed out of service to move their staffing to ambulances around 5:30 p.m., leaving just one engine company in Bowie for emergency and fire response.
Crews were later dispatched to a house fire on the 14600 block of London Lane around 9 p.m. as the Bowie units were out of service.
The blaze had been ignited in the basement of the home, which still had occupants inside, the union said. Due to the Bowie Old Town and Pointer Ridge engines that were out of service, firefighters were “forced to operate alone for an extended period of time, waiting for additional resources to arrive."
“Thankfully our firefighters were able to extinguish the fire without any injury or loss of life for themselves or the residents,” said Local 1619.
Meanwhile, this incident highlights what the union calls a “disturbing trend” — an increase in recent call volume that its current resources aren’t equipped to handle.
Prince George’s County has seen a 15 percent increase in call volume since 2020 with its fire department ranked 16th busiest in the nation.
“Prince George’s County must provide enough firefighters to account for the significant call volume increase so our firefighters are never left alone,” says the union.
A total of 232 firefighters must be hired to make up for the lack of adequate staffing across the department, according to Local 1619.
“Without this commitment, our firefighters and the residents of Prince George’s County will be left wondering when help is going to arrive when they call 9-1-1.”
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