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Vincent Harrison, vice president of the Prince George's County Volunteer Fire Association, knew calls had been pouring in all summer from people interested in volunteering at a local station, but when the numbers were compiled last month, it was still a surprise.

Nearly 100 people had applied in August for a chance to respond to emergency fire and ambulance calls at county stations for no pay, the highest monthly number since the department was formed by charter in 1970.

"I've never seen it in all my times," said Harrison, who has been an officer with the Riverdale Volunteer Fire Department and a volunteer since 1976.

Although economic cutbacks continue to create staffing shortages among the county's 700 career firefighters, interest in the volunteer ranks is on the rise, Harrison said. In addition to 97 new applications in August, another 96 people had applied as of Tuesday for a chance to join as volunteers this month, Harrison said.

With three months to go before the end of the year, the department has just surpassed last year's 585 applications, he said, a boon for the combination force of volunteers and career people who respond to more than 130,000 emergency calls in Prince George's County every year.

It is unclear if the new volunteers will translate to smoother operations for the department, which is dealing with staff shortages and attrition. Harrison said he was not sure if the new ranks will be enough to benefit several stations where operations have been scaled back. Officials with the department's public information office did not respond by press time to calls for comment on the enrollment's potential benefits.

Union officials warn that new volunteers do not necessarily translate to active responders.

"How do we define what part are the active volunteer workforce, the ones going out on the calls?" asked Andrew Pantelis, spokesman for the county's International Association of Fire Fighters union that represents the 700-member paid career force.

In a statement on the volunteer increase, fire department spokesman Mark Brady said the county lists a volunteer force of 1,100, but only about 550 participate in emergency operations.

Pantelis said there is still a desperate need for paid firefighters even if volunteer ranks are swelling because paid staff is available to work longer hours and can shift stations to cover gaps. The paid force has lost 50 members in the last year to attrition and emergency operations are suffering, he said.

"We need to hire firefighters and paramedics," he said. "We haven't done it in some time."

Harrison credits the increase in volunteers to new efforts by county Fire Chief Eugene Jones, who has helped streamline and simplify the process to make it easier for interested people to volunteer.

"It's really a different world," he said. "I can't say it enough."

Jones, who was named acting chief in February and officially appointed to the job in July, put in place an investigator to handle background checks for volunteers exclusively and streamlined its appointment process for physicals to handle volunteer interest.

Most of the county's volunteer stations require active volunteers to be on hand at least 12 hours per week for emergency calls. Once they are accepted, volunteers must attend an eight-hour orientation class, and then have 18 months to become certified as both firefighters and emergency medical technicians, two classes that require hundreds of hours of training.

Some volunteers do not take as long to get on board, though. When Tech Sgt. Troy Romans joined the Morningside Volunteer Fire Department this summer, he already had his certification. He has a paying job in the administrative side of the fire response unit at Andrew Air Force Base in Camp Springs.

"It's a completely different world," said Romans, adding that he joined for the chance to help the community and answer emergencies when he isn't working on base. "You get to help people. … What other job do you get to run into a burning building?"

Prince George's County pays for the training courses and equipment, but it is far cheaper than paying workers for the same duties, Harrison noted. "These departments cost the county zero to the tax base. Zero," he said. "Unfortunately, in these times, we get called on to do more but we're happy to do it."