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The Silver Hill and Morningside fire departments were among the busiest stations nationwide in 2009, according to a new survey released in August by Firehouse Magazine, an industry publication.

The Silver Hill station was ranked the 10th busiest in the U.S., and the Morningside station was the 14th busiest when it came to heavy rescue operations, such as pulling drivers out of overturned cars or other rescue operations that require more than the usual amount of equipment, according to the magazine's 29th annual survey. The magazine collected data from 287 jurisdictions in 47 states, the District of Columbia and six Canadian provinces that chose to take part in the survey this year. Prince George's County and Baltimore city were the only jurisdictions in Maryland to participate.

Prince George's County moved up two spots on the list of busiest jurisdictions overall, from 15th place in last year's survey of 2008 data to 13th place this year.

The county responded to a total of 134,595 calls in 2009, up from 133,975 calls in 2008, with the biggest increase being in false alarms, according to the survey. Mark Brady, spokesman for the Prince George's County Fire/EMS Department, said false alarms is a catchall category that can include everything from accidentally tripped alarms to residents calling about smoke from a neighbor's house that turns out to be a barbeque.

"While it carries that title of false alarm, it doesn't speak to the large number of calls dumped into that category," Brady said. "A lot are good intent calls."

Brady also noted that Prince George's County was the highest ranked jurisdiction that uses a combination of volunteers and professional emergency responders.

This is the first year the Silver Hill station was ranked as the busiest in Prince George's County since the 1980s, said volunteer Chief William King. The station made 15,690 runs in 2009, according to the survey.

King said the high number of calls is due to the densely populated communities his station serves, which includes Silver Hill, Suitland and Temple Hills. The Silver Hill station has about 55 volunteers and 16 career firefighters and medics, King said.

"It's great commitment on both sides — volunteer and career," he said. "They both have been working really well."

In last year's survey, the top spot in the county for heavy rescues went to the Laurel station, but Morningside saw an uptick in calls in 2009, said Morningside station volunteer Chief Michael White. Morningside responded to 2,496 heavy rescue calls in 2009, according to the survey.

Making the list is a point of pride for the station's volunteers and professional emergency responders, White said, adding that it's also bittersweet because each calls represents someone suffering from a car crash, house fire or other emergency. He attributed the increase in heavy rescue calls to the growing population around the Morningside area, which has increased traffic on and around the Beltway.

"Because we're so busy, it means somebody is getting hurt, and we're not praising that," White said. "But we're in a position to assist, and that's what we're happy about."

ztillman@gazette.net