The mission of the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service is to provide maximum protection of lives, property, and the environment with comprehensive risk reduction programs and safe and effective emergency response provided by highly skilled career and volunteer service providers representing the County's diverse population. The Fire and Rescue Service Capital Program provides for the repair and renovation of existing facilities and construction of new or replacement facilities at appropriate locations throughout the County to ensure prompt and efficient fire, rescue, and emergency medical services.County-wide fire, emergency medical and specialized rescue services, supported by an aggressive...
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PROGRAM DESCRIPTION AND OBJECTIVES
The mission of the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service is to provide maximum protection of lives, property, and the environment with comprehensive risk reduction programs and safe and effective emergency response provided by highly skilled career and volunteer service providers representing the County's diverse population. The Fire and Rescue Service Capital Program provides for the repair and renovation of existing facilities and construction of new or replacement facilities at appropriate locations throughout the County to ensure prompt and efficient fire, rescue, and emergency medical services.
County-wide fire, emergency medical and specialized rescue services, supported by an aggressive community outreach component geared toward preventing the 9-1-1 call, is realized through the efforts of one of the largest combination fire and rescue service organizations in the country. Operating from thirty-seven (37) fire and rescue stations, and several satellite offices and facilities, primary staffing is widely provided by a career workforce supplemented by volunteers from nineteen (19) Local Fire and Rescue Departments (LFRD).
Departments (LFRD)
Volunteer staffing is provided within the framework of regulations, policies, and procedures established by County Code through the Fire Chief of the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service (MCFRS). Volunteer support is supplemented by significant Fire Tax funding for equipment, training and facility maintenance, renovations, and additions.
The MCFRS, under the leadership of the Fire Chief, also directs and provides services in the areas of program development, fire prevention, fire and explosives investigations, communications, training, emergency medical services, and emergency management preparedness.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Design and construct a new White Flint Fire Station to house units currently operating out of Rockville Station 23 which support the White Flint community. This project will include enhancements to achieve Net Zero construction.
- Continue apparatus replacement. The apparatus replacement program provides a steady stream of CIP funding to meet critical apparatus replacement needs. During the six-year period, it is anticipated that the following units will be replaced: six aerial trucks, 40 EMS units (ambulances), 15 pumpers including two all-wheel drive brush trucks, four rescue squad/HAZMAT units, two tankers, and 13 support vehicles.
- Fund planning for the Rockville Fire Station 3 renovation project.
- Design and construct female facility improvements at Gaithersburg Fire Station 8 and Silver Spring Fire Station 16 to expand and improve locker, shower, and restroom facilities to appropriately accommodate MCFRS personnel.
- Increase funding for heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC)/electrical replacement, resurfacing, and roof replacement to address critical HVAC improvements in the upcoming year and provide a modest increase for inflation to preserve the buying power of important level of effort maintenance projects.
- Fund new project to purchase breathing air compressors that are reaching the end of their useful life and support an essential part of fire fighters' personal protective equipment.
PROGRAM CONTACTS
Contact David Heltemes of the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service at 240.777.6064 or Katherine Bryant Higgins of the Office of Management and Budget at 240.777.2764 for more information regarding this department's capital budget.
CAPITAL PROGRAM REVIEW
The FY25-30 Capital Improvements Program for the Fire and Rescue Service includes nine ongoing projects totaling $125.3 million over six years. This represents a $644,000 or 0.5 percent decrease from the FY23-28 Amended Program of $125.9 million. This decrease is due mainly to the completion of the Clarksburg Fire Station which is offset by increases to the HVAC/Electrical Replacement, Resurfacing, and Roof Replacement level of effort projects; cost increases in the White Flint Fire Station project and apparatus replacement projects; the addition of a new station to the Female Facility Upgrade project scope; and the addition of the Breathing Air Compressors project.
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