DAVE STATTER
Courtesy STATter911.com

On March 8, when STATter911.com last checked in on the fire boat crew at the National Harbor complex on the Potomac River in Prince George's County, Maryland, we told you what had been a 24-hour dedicated crew was being scaled back. This was part of an effort to use the firefighters to fill gaps elsewhere in the money-strapped Prince George's County Fire/EMS Department. There was also indication the crew would find a more permanent home four-miles-away at Station 821 in Oxon Hill and respond from 7600 Livingston Road to the dock for boat calls. That was then, this is now.


While the 24-hour boat staffing returned, as promised, on May 1 with the warmer weather, there seems to be a significant change of course in how the operation is going to be run in the future. Chief Spokesman Mark Brady confirms for STATter911.com that starting on June 1 Engine 858 will begin taking calls from the facility at National Harbor. Using a 1989 Seagrave that had been the reserve engine for Station 822, the four-person crew at the dock will now also operate an engine company.

Brady reports changes are being made in the CAD system to account for Engine 858 and its new first-due area. Previously the fire boat crew would respond on land-based fire and EMS calls at the National Harbor complex in a pick-up truck.