Story by Chris Yee

Volunteer groups are always in need of two things: money and more volunteers. This is especially true of all the volunteer groups associated with the local fire departments and rescue squads.

So, when the Hollywood Volunteer Rescue Squad Company #79 was awarded a $52,106 grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program (AFGP) everyone was very pleased because what is good for one is good for all. Due to the efforts of the grant writing team of the Hollywood Auxiliary, the grant will provide more than 90 percent of the funds for changes the Hollywood Rescue Squad would like to implement.

Many of the fire and rescue volunteers remember a time-in the not so distant past-when monies to run the fire departments and the emergency medical squads were only available if the auxiliaries went out and got it. Quite literally, the members of the auxiliaries would go door-to-door to ask for money. Make no mistake-they sometimes still do!

Barbara McWilliams, former president of the Avenue Firefighters Auxiliary and a member for 48 years, recalls selling black pepper and vanilla door-to-door to buy the first coffee pot for the firehouse.

When the fire department in Avenue was just beginning, the American Legion had donated land and a building for the new firehouse. But much more was needed to put out fires and rescue people. All the firefighters and their spouses pitched in to do fund raisers until they were able to buy their first boots, gloves, hats and gear. The ladies auxiliary made all the payments for the first fire truck, which, by the way, was a used fire truck, purchased from Mechanicsville.

Those first years were filled with needs for very basic and essential equipment that the firefighters needed to fight fires. Crab feasts, card parties, and chance books (raffle books) were just some of the inventive methods of "enhancing the revenue stream"…in other words, collecting money to buy needed items.

The local auxiliaries in all three counties have helped to furnish the fire departments and rescue squads with everything from furniture, including chairs, tables and couches, to coffee pots and septic systems.

These volunteers are "ordinary" folks-farmers, builders, mechanics, hairdressers and businesspeople-who come together to keep our homes, schools and communities safe. When the firefighters are out fighting fires, auxiliary members will bring food and refreshments to either warm them up in the winter or cool them down on hot, sticky days. This is necessary as much for the firefighters' physical well-being as for their morale.

Many people in St. Mary's County can still remember the huge fires on Queen Tree in Mechanicsville and in Compton. These fires burned for days. Additional units had to be called from as far as Chevy Chase. The ladies auxiliary kept food and drinks coming for all those that were fighting the fires.

As firefighting became more sophisticated and technical, so did the rescue mission. As technology has improved our ability to fight fire, so has technology improved the techniques and protocols that the Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) has at his or her disposal to treat the wounded. Sophisticated treatment has become more mobile and instantaneous than ever before.

As the mission of the fire and rescue departments became more complex, the need to have them separate became clear. Eventually, the two entities split and each one developed their own auxiliaries.

The fire departments respond to and fight fires and the rescue squads respond to and care for emergency medical situations. But today, this has further morphed into the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) units and the Advanced Life Support (ALS) squads. The ability for these units to respond separately or together is due to the network capability of the communications systems.

In the tri-county area almost all of the fire departments have separate EMS and auxiliary units. Each is committed to helping the unit in any way they can. In the past, most of the auxiliary members were women, but now, that is not so much the case.

The need for competent, capable firefighters has blurred the gender requirement just as the need for committed and creative volunteers has encouraged men to join the auxiliaries. The Mechanicsville fire chief is a female and there are a number of men in the various auxiliaries. All these fire departments, rescue squads and auxiliaries are volunteer-based-no one gets paid.

Even Dr. John Roache, the chair of the St. Mary's County Fire and Rescue Squad, is a volunteer and gives freely of his time. Within St. Mary's County there is one paid fire department funded by the federal government, operating to protect the Naval Air Station, Patuxent River. There are some positions in Charles County that are paid, although the greatest majority of fire and rescue people are not paid. Calvert County is the last totally volunteer fire and paramedic department in the state of Maryland.

These many volunteers do this because they like the feeling they get when they help others. Allen Enfield of the North Beach Fire and Rescue said, "Honestly, I joined because as clichéd as it sounds, I always wanted to help. And the whole squad is like an extended family." Others have found niches where they can make a difference, where their contribution is totally personal and unique.

Mary Jane Scully has been involved in the Leonardtown Fire Auxiliary for more than 55 years. Her brothers were firefighters and she got "hooked" through them. Hundreds of fund raisers, catered dinners, basket bingos, and bake sales are a part of what is done to get the money to purchase the needed items and equipment. Though Scully certainly made her share of sandwiches and brought coffee and cold sodas to those on the line fighting fires, her pet project and concern was fire prevention. She was inducted into the Maryland Hall of Fame for her efforts in the field of fire prevention and she has also won the Silver Spring Award and the Honey Award given to citizens for their efforts in fire prevention and civic service.

These auxiliaries have come a long way from buying gloves, hats and boots for the men and women who rush out to save the rest of us. They are still doing the bake sales or whatever else it takes, but now they are buying "jaws of life" and high-tech infrared cameras. Emergency medical equipment is not bought at yard sales-state-of-the-art hydraulic stretchers save time and the backs of volunteers. Automated external defibrillators (AEDs) save lives and keep families whole. These "ordinary" men and women become extraordinary keepers of our communities. The debt we owe all of them is priceless.