At last month’s Community Meeting on the progress at the Beltsville Volunteer Fire Department, Councilman Tom Dernoga laid down a bombshell when he stated, “My feeling is when the election is over, you’re going to find the career folks taken out of this station.” If true, this would continue the trend of County Fire Chief Tiffany Green’s stripping the northern part of the county of career firefighters. Earlier this summer she removed career staff from four stations here in the northern part of the county. These stations were Greenbelt, Bowie, Berwyn Heights and Bunker Hill. The cities were only given a week’s notice and told the move was temporary. On October 11, Chief Green put out a memo confirming what we all knew to be true, the move was not temporary and that the career fire fighters would not be coming back to those stations. According to the memo, this move has resulted in a 78% reduction in mandatory overtime payments as compared to last year. She signed the memo, “Stay safe” which seems to be something that isn’t entirely possible since she pulled emergency workers who were supposed to be protecting the city. Green’s motto of “One County, One Department, One Mission” seems to be at odds with her policies.
Response Times Discrepancies
The City of Greenbelt sent a letter to Chief Green on October 2 highlighting incidents where response times were longer than the 8-minute response time standard. The Greenbelt News Review highlighted these incidents with the response from Green’s office.
September 18, 2024: “A medical emergency occurred on Gardenway, where the response time appears to have exceeded the eight-minute standard. Tragically, the gentleman experiencing anaphylactic shock did not survive,” said the city, in their letter.
PGFD’s Response: Paramedic Ambulance 858 was dispatched at 4:09 p.m. and arrived on scene at 4:13 p.m., a response time of four minutes. In addition, Paramedic Engine 848 was dispatched at 4:09 p.m. and arrived on scene at 4:16 p.m., a response time of seven minutes.
The Greenbelt News Review has independently verified that a resident placed the 911 call at 4:06 p.m. and that call lasted eight minutes. According to the resident, the responder hung up as soon as the ambulance arrived, making the arrival time 4:14 p.m. by their cellphone call and the time from 911 call to arrival eight minutes.
September 1, 2024: “A 3-year-old child was struck by a vehicle on Ridge Road, with response times exceeding 13 minutes for this critical emergency,” stated the city.
PGFD’s Response: Medic Unit 812 was dispatched at 9:18 p.m. and was on scene at 9:27 p.m., a response time of nine minutes. In addition, Truck 814 was dispatched at 9:18 p.m. and arrived on scene at 9:23 p.m., a response time of five minutes.
September 23, 2024: “A fire alarm was triggered at Green Ridge House, our city’s senior housing complex, and PGFD classified the call as nonpriority, resulting in a delayed response time of 23 minutes,” said the city.
PGFD’s Response: Engine 828 was dispatched at 10:26:52 a.m. and on scene at 10:41:27 a.m., a response time of 14 minutes. A formal investigation has been initiated into the Green Ridge House response and two firefighters have been suspended pending the outcome, reported Doubleday.
It’s convenient that Chief Green refuses to meet with community members and their city leaders in an open forum. Green has made it clear to those around her, according to sources, that she will not attend public meetings that she is invited to because of the response that she got in Beltsville in January and February of 2024. Chief Green’s office responded to the Greenbelt News Review with the following statement: “The Fire/EMS Department has formally communicated with the City of Greenbelt no less than 18 times since June 4, 2024,” he said. “Other than one response time delay that was attributed to personnel violating department policy, the Fire/EMS Department has maintained an average response time of less than eight minutes in this area since June 30, 2024,” he said, but he did not respond to how the eight-minute average was calculated – seemingly the average of all response times.”
According to the News Review’s article PGFD Will Not Return Career Staff to Greenbelt Fire Dept. published on Oct. 16, “The News Review filed a PIA request in July for the analysis PGFD used to come to the decision to remove career staff from the four stations. In August, PGFD responded with PowerPoint charts missing key information or comparative data. They have not responded to requests to clarify the charts or provided any narrative analysis (see September 18 issue). Director of Public Information Alan Doubleday told the News Review that the Maryland Public Information Act (MPIA) office had to respond to questions about what the charts represent, while the MPIA office told the News Review it was no longer within their purview and should be addressed by the spokespersons. Despite being sent MPIA’s statement, Doubleday has not responded to these multiple questions and requests to enable understanding of the public information documents. The News Review filed two further PIA requests with PGFD this month.” The fire chief’s department is doing a good job of giving city leaders the run around.
Temporary Trailers
Despite a report showing only cosmetic updates were needed, Chief Green plans to install costly temporary trailers, with no clear timeline or budget to begin work at the Beltsville Fire Department. Volunteers are being pressured to sign a memorandum granting her authority over the property, raising questions about the necessity and feasibility of the project. Green is pressuring the volunteers to sign a memorandum granting her authority to place these trailers, despite no clear timeline for construction. Given budget constraints, it's unclear when work would begin, raising doubts about why volunteers should hand over land they own without specifics.
Additionally, Green proposes placing trailers across the street, where the volunteers currently store apparatus in a barn. This would increase costs, as the site lacks electricity and water. Engineer Paul Mellits, who consulted with the Beltsville Volunteer Fire Department, confirmed the barn is unsuitable for use as a fire station due to mandatory referral regulations, and rezoning would be required to proceed. Mellits questioned why Green is pushing a plan that lacks funding, proper permissions, and isn’t supported by her own department’s report, which confirms the current building is sufficient for fire and EMS services.
So, the battle with Chief Green continues and it looks as if she is currently going to do what she intended all along, pull the career fire staff from Beltsville. Now, while we don’t have confirmation of this and nothing has come out of her office directly, the elected officials that have been negotiating with her and her staff are the ones who have brought this to the attention of the public. Chief Green continues to try and undermine volunteer firefighters in Prince George’s County. She is attempting to make it more difficult for new volunteers to join and she is trying to make it so miserable for current volunteers that they quit. Call your elected representatives and Chief Green’s office and make your voices heard loud and clear. Tell them that you need your career staff to be placed back in their fire stations and that those stations need to be staffed by career and volunteer staff 24/7. Below is a list of who to call or email:
County Executive Angela Alsobrooks
301-952-4131
Fire Chief Tiffany Green301-883-5200
Council Chairperson Jolene Ivey
301-952-3864
Councilmember Tom Dernoga
301-952-3887
At Large Member Calvin Hawkins
301-952-2136
Senator Jim Rosapepe
Delegate Ben Barnes
Delegate Joseline Peña-Melnyk
Delegate Mary Lehman
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