If the county executive’s proposed Fiscal Year 2027 operating budget is adopted, Laytonsville District Volunteer Fire Department will lose three firefighters.
“We can’t support this. We need the people out here,” said Laytonsville Chief Buddy Sutton. “I can’t tell you how much three people help.”
The Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Services budget proposal calls for redeployment of three day workers to another fire station where they are needed more, explained Pete Piringer, the department’s spokesperson. (The department utilizes day workers and shift workers.)
Laytonsville will not lose the rescue squad where those firefighters were assigned. “It is just not going to be staffed,” Piringer said. “The unit is not physically going anywhere at the moment,” he added.
“Chief [Corey] Smedley looked at staffing from a countywide perspective,” and believes that the county would be better served with additional firefighters in stations like Wheaton and Rockville, Piringer said.
There are five rescue squads that are staffed in the county. “Statistically, the heavy rescue squad is not utilized often in the Laytonsville area,” Piringer said.
Sutton expressed concern that his department will be able to arrive at all its coverage area in the time required by the fire department. He also questioned how this was a budget issue if the three firefighters will still be employed.
Sutton testified during a county council budget meeting about the budget proposal. “I can’t tell you how much we need those personnel and that rescue squad”.
Sutton told MCM, “I have the second largest area in Montgomery County,” and cars and residents have increased here, he added.
“I am proud of our fire system,” he said, but added, “We cannot survive.”
In a Facebook post, Sutton wrote the change in staffing “directly impacts public safety by leaving Rescue Squad 717 unstaffed during the day. This decision to remove critical personnel is seen as a threat to emergency response capabilities, leaving a large gap in coverage, and potentially endangering lives.”
Currently, the Laytonsville volunteer fire department has six career firefighters that staff it constantly. It also has three career day shift firefighters who work five days a week.
While the volunteers fill in, they have daytime jobs or attend school and are often not available during weekdays, according to Sutton.
