CATONSVILLE, Md. — “There's only engine from [station] 4 in service.”
“Which engine from 4 is out of service?"
Those quotes are from dispatch audio as the Baltimore County Fire Department responded to a fire in Catonsville yesterday afternoon.
The dispatcher was trying to figure out which two fire engines were taken out of service that day - a practice the department has resorted to over the last few months. We first reported it here.
The firefighters' union says it's all about money — the department is understaffed, and millions over budget thanks to overtime costs. The department maintains it’s because stations are re-directing personnel to the fire academy to train new recruits. Union leadership says, that wouldn’t normally necessitate a routine practice of taking engines out of service.
“What we're doing is playing a horrible game of Russian roulette with the lives of Baltimore County citizens,” said Ray Gill, a captain with the Catonsville fire station, and a leader for the union.
He’s been keeping both his members, and county citizens, informed about the department’s staffing issues. Yesterday morning, he posted that one of Catonsville's fire engines was one of the two in the rotation that day to be taken out of service.
About three hours later, a fire broke out in Catonsville. A woman was trapped inside. She was rescued, and taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries.
The victim, 70 year-old Kathleen Benedick, later died from her injuries. Outrage on social media was swift and severe.
Gill can't say for sure that having two more engines in service would have changed the outcome. The first crew arrived within four minutes. But he says his fellow firefighters were put at risk.
The command officer didn't arrive for 20 minutes. And the rapid intervention team - responsible for rescuing other firefighters - was more than 10 minutes away.
“So everyone has a particular job function. And when that second engine is out of service, it pushes to the next company, then it’s a trickle-down effect," Gill said.
“Within the first couple of minutes is where we typically find victims in a dwelling fire. So more gallons being flowed, protecting the initial crews that go in to affect the rescue itself, yesterday’s outcome, it might not have changed it whatsoever. But had the front engine been out, been delayed on another call, which is quite common with our call volumes nowadays, then it would have absolutely changed things,” Gill added.
He says this impacts volunteer firefighters in the county too.
“They’re feeling the constraints of an increased call volume. So putting career engines that are paid for by the taxpayers out of service, trickles down to them and increases their call volumes.”
Gill says this problem goes back years.
After losing a firefighter in the line of duty in 2011, a federal report from the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) recommended increasing the command staff. In 2013, another firefighter was killed, and again a NIOSH report mentioned command staffing structure as a concern.
And in 2022, an independent review of the department found it was "woefully understaffed,” recommending the department have 9-10 battalion chiefs on-duty per shift. The department currently has three.
After that report was published, fire chief Joanne Rund, wrote in an announcement on the county website: “Though we have been aware of the Fire Service’s needs, this independent analysis confirms our belief and provides a road map for short- and long-term investment and for organizational change. It’s an important step toward moving forward with improvements and reforms.”
“Absolutely nothing has changed,” Gill said. “We thought the tragedy of losing two firefighters would've made a difference. And here we are, 10 years later, still arguing the same facts. And now we're decreasing services."
Chief Rund, disputes the union's claims. In a statement, she tells us: “To be clear, the department's response to this incident was immediate and operational deployments did not impact the response time of first responders in this incident."
We also reached out to the county executive's office. A spokesperson says:
“The safety and well-being of Baltimore County’s residents and first responders remains our top priority, and the administration is proud of the record investments we’ve continued to make in public safety. We remain committed to working in collaboration with our partners in labor to identify productive solutions to staffing challenges, and will always explore additional opportunities to improve operations and support the brave men and women who keep us safe. The administration remains equally focused on ensuring that any changes to operational deployments will not impact the high level of service that our residents currently receive, expect, and deserve.”
