More News

A heavy thud echoed off the back garage of the Burtonsville Volunteer Fire Station one evening last week as Jennifer Arnold — a volunteer freshly transferred from Delaware — hopped off the tail of one of the department's engines and took off for the side of the station, a thick coil of fire hose over her shoulder.

"Come on, go!" shouted Master Firefighter Brian Consolo as he trotted along behind her, his veteran eyes recording each of the firefighter's steps — and missteps — during the training drill. "If you were going to a fire, would you lay the hose out like this?"

Minutes later, Consolo and a group of five other volunteer firefighters gathered around the side of the station to review Arnold's run.

"I know I was a little slow," Arnold said Thursday after Consolo offered a few points of advice on how she can handle the line better by holding it higher up on her shoulder. "But these boots are at least three times too big for me."

As the newest recruit, Arnold had yet to be issued much of her own equipment — including boots — an expense usually paid for from the roughly $500,000 the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service divides between the county's 19 volunteer departments each year. While county funding plays a huge part in keeping the volunteer department running, steady decreases have brought the amount received by the Burtonsville Volunteer Fire Department down from $237,000 in 2002 to $194,000 this year, making the department's fundraising efforts all the more important, according to BVFD Vice President Tami Bulla.

"What's challenging for us is we get such a small operating budget to begin with, so when that gets cut even more, it starts cutting into our bottom line," Bulla said. "As volunteers, we have no salaries to speak of, so when they make those cuts they're actually cutting into our operating budget."

While annual carnivals, family portrait nights held at the department and mailed donation campaigns have proven successful in garnering added financial support for the department from residents, donation money had in the past been used to fund purchases of new vehicles for the department, not day-to-day expenses.

Times have changed and expenses have increased since a group of 18 men pledged slightly more than $1,800 to found the volunteer department in 1947 — the department asked County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) for $113,000 last March to purchase new protective gear alone, funds Bulla said they are still waiting for.

Fortunately, the volunteers have also changed their approach since the 1940s, hosting their 20th annual carnival from Sept. 9 through Sept. 12 and again from Sept. 15 through Sept. 18 this year at the corner of Route 198 and Star Pointe Lane in Burtonsville.

The carnival is just one of the many options available to area residents to support their local volunteers with much-needed contributions, according to Bulla, who praised the partnership the department has developed with the community regarding contributions over the years.

If the carnival is not disrupted by rain, the department can raise anywhere from $15,000 to $20,000 from the carnival alone, Bulla said.

"Every first-line piece of apparatus we bought on our own through donations and contributions from the community," she said, waving an arm toward the assembled vehicles in the garage.

jarias@gazette.net

The Burtonsville Volunteer Fire Department will hold its carnival from Sept. 9 through Sept. 12 and again from Sept. 15 through Sept. 18 at the corner of Route 198 and Star Pointe Lane in Burtonsville. The carnival will be open from 6:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, from 6:30 to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday and from noon to 6 p.m. Sunday. Family nights featuring discounted ride rates for youth are Sept. 9, 12, 15 and 16.