On February 3, 2012, the BayNet headed to the Huntingtown Volunteer Fire Department and Rescue Squad for the day. Upon our arrival, we were greeted by Phil Newman, who is known at numerous departments throughout P.G. and Calvert, as well as various other members. The day started off slow as members worked on various projects around the station as well as sat around and talked about previous calls and caught up with each other. With no calls all morning, plans were being made as what to do for lunch when the first call came in and it was for a reported house fire.
As crews responded to the fire, a large plume of smoke could be seen rising up into the sky from miles away. Chief 6 took command of interior operations as his firefighters worked along side firefighters from neighboring companies to quickly extinguish the fire and save much of the house. Shortly after the fire was extinguished and crews were moving into overhaul operations, a call went out for a reported serious accident with entrapment. Crews were quickly plucked from the fire scene to go assist with the collision. As crews arrived on scene, it was announced that the reported that the patient was no longer trapped. As additional crews arrived on scene, they all worked together to secure the vehicles and provide medical attention to those personnel involved in the collision.
As crews began to head back to the station, chatter could be heard about the eventful day as questions were being asked from those who couldn’t make the calls. A short bit later, another call came in for a reported fire came in further south in the county. Crews quickly mounted their apparatus and headed towards the incident. Enroute, reports came in that it was a kitchen fire and after initial arriving crews extinguished it, Huntingtown’s units were among those that were returned to service prior to arrival on the scene.
The Huntingtown Fire Department was originally chartered on February 24, 1972 with their first building being built primarily off of donated supplies and labor. The departments first apparatus was a 1961 Ford/American La France purchased from Forestville Volunteer Fire Department and ran their first call on October 15, 1974. Today the department proudly owns 2 class A engines, a tanker, 2 brush units, 2 ambulances, a heavy rescue squad, 2 suburban command units, a utility pick-up, and a mobile air supply unit with 2611 total fire and EMS calls in 2011. The department covers a 45 square mile with the majority of their funding coming from the county and department fund raisers. The department has become known for their primary fundraiser, a annual Corvette raffle. More info on the department and raffle can be found at www.hvfd6.org.
The BayNet would like to thank the Huntingtown Volunteer Fire Department for hosting us.
The stories from the incidents that occurred during our visit can be found at the following links:
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