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Firefighters and paramedics from southern Prince George's have the longest emergency response times in the county, with fire officials citing large coverage areas that in some cases are more than 40 times larger than areas manned by other departments.

According to data from the county's Fire/EMS Department, the Baden Volunteer Fire Department in Brandywine was the slowest to respond to calls with basic life support — medical staff with basic equipment — in fiscal 2008, taking an average of 10.63 minutes to arrive after the 911 call was made, followed by the Marlboro Volunteer Fire Department, Station 45, in Upper Marlboro (9.65 minutes) and the Ritchie Volunteer Fire Department in Capitol Heights (9.22 minutes). The county average response time is 7.68 minutes.

Baden also had the longest fire engine response time (10.97 minutes), followed by the Brandywine Volunteer Fire Department (10.07 minutes) and the Marlboro station (9.03 minutes), compared with a county average of 6.9 minutes.

The longest response times for advanced life support, medical staff who can administer drugs and bring medical equipment, were from the Accokeek Volunteer Fire Department (14.18 minutes), Baden (13.88 minutes) and Marlboro (13.35 minutes). The county average is 9.76 minutes.

The National Fire Protection Association recommends a maximum response time for engines and ambulances of six minutes and a maximum response time of 10 minutes for paramedics.

Larry Armstrong, who drives a firetruck at Baden, said the station's longer response times are due primarily to the size of the station's "first due," or primary area of responsibility.

"We have some long-distance runs," he said. "It's just the nature of the layout of the area. There's nowhere we go that's close to us."

Baden and Marlboro, the stations with the longest response times for basic life support, have first dues of 55 square miles and 33 square miles, respectively, according to Fire/EMS Department spokesman Mark Brady. The stations in College Park and Riverdale, which have the shortest response times for basic life support, have first dues of 1.2 square miles and 2.5 square miles.

Steven Hainey, a fire lieutenant at the Accokeek station, said his station's response time for advanced life support services is longer, because the station's paramedics drive from Fort Washington.

"It's geographic," said Hainey, who said parts of the Accokeek station's area of responsibility are more than 10 minutes away. "It all depends on where they're coming from."

Brady said he was not sure whether there are plans to build more fire stations in southern parts of the county.