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With the new budget year starting, the Prince George's County Fire/EMS Department is trying to do more with less. This means removing career staffing from firehouses on a rotating basis and, in at least one case on Wednesday, forcing a firehouse to close.

Department spokesman Mark Brady confirms the county does not have the money to staff fire stations as it has done in previous budgets. In recent weeks the department has been redeploying firefighters on a smaller scale, but now is doing this in as many as six fire stations at a time across the county.

To fill in, Prince George's County is relying on volunteer firefighters. While volunteer firefighters have long made up a large percentage of the firefighting force in the county, using volunteers to reduce overtime for career firefighters is a relatively new concept.

County officials say that plan worked in at least four stations on Wednesday. But as STATter911.com confirmed, the Calverton Fire Station (Station 841) was left without staffing throughout the day.

It took just 90-seconds for a TV news crew to make it the half-mile from Station 841 to Evans Trail after Willie Smith's niece, Deborah, called 911 Wednesday afternoon. The 66-year-old man was complaining of chest pains.

PGFD Chief Spokesman Mark Brady confirms it took about 8-minutes for the closest ambulance to arrive at the apartment complex. That ambulance was staffed by volunteers from Branchville (Station 811), about 4-miles from Evans Trail. They were soon joined by paramedics from the College Park Station (Station 812).

Brady confirms that Station 811 was the fourth closest fire station to the call. Two closer ambulances were tied up with other emergencies.

Deborah Smith said she was wondering why it took crews longer than usual to respond. Smith called it "scary" after learning the local firehouse was closed.

A short time later an ambulance from College Park responded past the Calverton Fire Station to assist a person who had fallen at a senior citizen's complex across the street from the firehouse.

The career firefighters are being redeployed to fill other gaps. Brady says, "We are trying to make the best use of the resources we have".

The plan, put together by Acting Chief Eugene Jones, makes it clear there is no money to staff stations even when volunteers are unable to provide the crews. In those cases, as in Calverton on Wednesday, the stations will be closed. The fire department previously spent as much as $250,000 in overtime every two weeks to keep the stations staffed. The current budget caps the spending at about $60,000.

At the same time, the department has been losing career firefighters to retirement with no new recruit classes scheduled. Brady says the current number of career firefighters is hovering around 700, considerably less than it was a decade ago when it hovered near 800.

Besides Branchville, volunteers filled shifts on Wednesday in West Lanham, Bowie, and Glenn Dale. Some volunteer chiefs have told STATter911.com that filling these shifts during day time hours, when many volunteers have other jobs, can be difficult. Those chiefs, who did not want to be identified, say they aren't certain how this will play out in the long run.

Station 841, like some others in the county, has little volunteer participation. Brady said the department did not expect it to be staffed on Wednesday.

According to Brady, part of the plan has the number of firefighters slightly increased at adjacent stations during these periods. For example, while station 841 did not have firefighters assigned from 7:00 AM until 3:00 PM, Station 831 (Beltsville) had an extra firefighter, allowing it to have a dedicated crew for its ambulance. Normally career staffing for the day is four, meaning only two firefighters are left on an engine company if the ambulance is on a call.