For years, tensions have existed between the volunteer firefighters in Prince George’s County and the career firefighters paid by the Maryland county to provide fire and emergency medical system services.
It has led to fist fights at fire scenes, arrests, lawsuits and other forms of complaints. In recent weeks, the condition of a volunteer firehouse in Beltsville has become a source of tension between the two sides. It’s one issue out of many.
The buildup of everything spilled over last week, when the head of the volunteer fire and rescue association put out a five-page statement ripping into Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Chief Tiffany Green with a long list of grievances covering recruitment, finances and disciplinary practices.
“The frustration continues to grow,” said Lee Lutz, president of the Prince George’s County Volunteer Fire and Rescue Association.
In the list of grievances, Lutz lays the blame on the leadership of the county fire department, which has the final say on many issues that pertain even to volunteer fire and rescue operations.
The first subject he brought up was recruitment. He said that it can take four to six months for the process to play out, and by that time, the potential volunteer has started working elsewhere.
“The county doesn’t have enough personnel … to respond to all the calls they need,” Lutz said. “They need the volunteers, but they seem to continue to just push them away.”
Lutz also argued that a change to how ambulance fees are charged for bringing people to the hospital is also hindering the ability of volunteer firehouses to operate. He said that change will go into effect this summer, and it will give a greater share of each fee to the county. That means less money to volunteer firehouses, which are reliant on the fees to maintain firehouses and buy new firetrucks.
“There are a lot of companies that are struggling,” said Lutz. “The ambulance billing money allows some of them to stay afloat.”
Lutz called it an insult because, “We’re making and earning this money, and she (Green) wants to come in and take more of it away from us.”
Lutz and attorney Tonya Sweat, who is providing legal counsel for the volunteer association, are also critical of Green for a heavy-handed disciplinary approach he said denies volunteers the same due process rights that the unionized, career firefighters are provided.
“So you have to understand, when the county fire chief basically has all the power … there’s no due process under county law for the volunteer firefighters — they’re stuck,” Sweat said. “And if a volunteer fire department ends up with less than five operational members, they’re out of service. They can’t work in the county.”
The county is adamant that many of the statements made by the volunteer association were filled with inaccurate information, demonstrate misunderstandings of laws and budgetary requirements, and contain statements that were simply not true.
In particular, the county said all disciplinary matters regarding volunteers are overseen by the Office of Professional Standards — the same board that handles disciplinary measures involving career firefighters represented by the union. The only difference is career firefighters and paramedics are judged by a panel of other career employees, while volunteers are judged by a panel of volunteers.
The county also argues some of the fights over money focus on an agencywide requirement mandated by state and county laws and regulations, pointing out the County Council asked for detailed spending plans to be part of the budgetary process. The county said this has led to the retirement of more debt that’s been incurred by the purchase of new apparatus, such as fire trucks and ambulances.
The volunteers claim late payments and more centralized control have nearly led to repossession of some of those apparatus in recent years. The county said it continues to add more apparatus to its overall fleet, while paying off multiple other apparatus purchased in recent years.
And while Lutz said there is a concern that volunteers won’t be able to buy new apparatus in the future because of restrictions on how money can get spent, the county said any equipment can be purchased in accordance with General Order 02-27.
Despite what Green calls the “numerous inaccuracies” in the statements made by Lutz, the county does appear to be giving validity to some of the points that were made, or at least listening to those concerns.
Prince George’s County is about to roll out a fully online system for volunteer companies to use in order to speed up the application and background check process for new volunteers. In addition, the department is also reviewing the proposed changes to the distribution of ambulance billing revenue, which is one of the main sources of dissension.
“This ambulance billing fund is just one way that they’re trying … to push us out the door,” Lutz said.
Back in December, the county added an EMS Operations Fund category into the revenue distribution split, meaning money would be divided up five ways instead of four. Currently 75% of the billing goes to the firehouse that runs the ambulance trip. The new formula would see that reduced to 60%. However, the proposed changes are on pause for now and haven’t taken effect.
In a statement to WTOP, Green said, “The residents of Prince George’s County should rest assured that the men and women of the Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department will continue to provide the highest quality services to enhance the quality of life in Prince George’s County. Additionally, we have and will continue to work with volunteer corporations to ensure safe working conditions, continued recruitment, and necessary oversight to ensure agency fiscal responsibility.”
But it’s clear that a relationship that’s been frayed for years isn’t showing many signs of cooperation or healing.
“It’s our contention that if they would … embrace the volunteers more, we can ease some of those problems,” Lutz said.
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