AROUND THE PARK AGAIN by Sharon Lee Tegler
Brought to you by Jing Ying Institute of Kung Fu & Tai Chi
and Lean On Dee Senior Home Care Service
Things are rarely quiet at Earleigh Heights Volunteer Fire Company as the ears of all first responders on duty are attuned to the speaker system heard throughout the firehouse. In spite of the consistent spate of emergency calls coming through the speakers, the atmosphere was calm in Fire Chief Dave Crawford’s office.
The chief was bringing us up to date on the status of EHVFC’s plans to build a new fire house. The company held public meetings in 2018 to explain that the 66-year-old facility was failing, and that they were exploring rebuilding it. Unfortunately, that couldn’t happen because of a set-back rule requiring the firehouse to be 65 feet from the highway which it’s not. It’s closer. Engineers told the fire company it couldn’t be modified or moved. Therefore, plans were drawn up to build a new firehouse 600 feet east on the station’s 9.5-acre tract of land.
“As of now, it’s been five years since we came up with a design and began the process,” Crawford said. “We wanted to offer the land that would become available when the new firehouse was completed and the current one demolished for pad sites that could be leased to bring in funding. However, to do that, we were required to apply to the Anne Arundel County Office of Planning and Zoning to have our zoning changed from residential to commercial. In doing so, we faced five years of denials from them. Finally, the Anne Arundel County Council suggested an amendment which passed 7 to 0 and our commercial zoning was granted in March. Now, we can at least get started”.
He went on to explain that the fire company has been told by the county that it will take another 360 days to get a building permit. As EHVFC has navigated these delays, construction costs for the new building have risen dramatically due to inflation.
“The cost for the station has gone from $9 million when we started to $16 million and the cost for the adjoining hall has risen from $2.5 million to $8 million,” Crawford said. “We’ve come to see that there’s no way we can raise that amount of money from our conventional fund-raising efforts like our carnivals, bull roasts, Bingo, and banquet hall rentals.”
He added that the company has applied for grants and would love to have one but, with so many other organizations applying, it’s been like buying a ticket for the lottery. So far they’ve had no results.
As happens every year, EHVFC sent out 18,000 mailers asking for donations but only got about 4,000 back with a contribution. This is the first year they’ve ever mailed them out to businesses.
“The results were very disappointing,” Crawford said. “We sent the mailers to 1,800 businesses and got only $2,200, primarily from small businesses. The big businesses didn’t support us at all. Most were part of larger corporations with a regional or national reach and they all said ‘No Way’. Regardless, we take care of them. “
The Chief estimated that the fire company serves a nighttime population of 25,000 to 27,000 people but, in the daytime it’s up to 60,000 or 70,000 counting the workforce and student population.
“We also take care of all the assisted living facilities which give us no money,” he added. “We make numerous runs each day to all of them putting considerable stress on the equipment and apparatus that we own.”
Suddenly, in the midst of Crawford’s update, an alarm sounded over the speakers followed by a call for response for an “unconscious baby, first degree alert”.
In the blink of an eye, Engine 121 responded to the call with siren roaring and lights flashing. The firetruck barely cleared the door as we snapped the photo seen above but was quickly followed by Medic Unit 12.
Built in 1957 when the company’s fire trucks and ambulance were smaller, the aging firehouse has low ceilings. Today with two fire trucks, a rescue squad truck, an ambulance, and a paramedic unit – roughly 93 tons of fire, rescue and emergency equipment – space is tight. Even with Engine 121 and the paramedic truck out on a call, quarters were tight for the remaining equipment.
EHVFC’s most recently purchased piece of equipment, a Special Response Unit that specializes in water and offroad emergencies – particularly in inclement weather – has to be parked outside. Though owned by the fire company, it is used statewide and nationally if need be.
After six decades of heavy use, the fire station shows significant signs of deterioration with cracks visible on both interior and exterior walls.
Second floor amenities for on-duty firefighters are outdated and in disrepair. With an open locker room, open bunkroom and single shower room for both sexes there’s little privacy. The wood paneled kitchen, break room and meeting room are timeworn and heating and air conditioning are spotty.
For 100 plus years, Earleigh Heights Volunteer Fire Company has kept our neighborhoods safe as an independent, self-reliant department. Its grounds and firehall have also served as primary gathering places for community events.
Organized April 18, 1918 by 14 members living on Truckhouse Road, the company had no equipment, no station and a balance of $2.50. What they lacked in funds and equipment, they made up for in determination. By 1930, the volunteers moved from their original firehouse – a wooden structure on skids that migrated from property to property – to a brick facility on Truckhouse Road they built themselves. Simultaneously they progressed from a $75 horse-pulled ladder wagon to a chemical wagon on a Model T chassis.
By 1939, the firehouse housed a 500 gallon-per-minute (GPM) American LaFrance pumper and an American Fire Apparatus 400 GPM pumper on a Diamond “T” chassis. But they soon outgrew the facility.
Aided by a contractor, EHVFC members completed construction of their current firehouse at 161 Ritchie Highway in late 1957. Over ensuing decades, the fire department membership and complement of equipment grew as neighborhoods grew.
Today the company serves all of greater Severna Park (with a population of nearly 40,000 residents according to the 2020 census).
Earleigh Heights Volunteer Fire Company operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week and remains a very valuable resource for our community. The volunteers save countless lives each year not to mention businesses and properties throughout the area. EHVFC’s website lists 31 first responders, all of whom are devoted to the district as a whole and the neighborhoods in which they live.
“We serve a very densely populated district with a large proportion of property owners,” said Crawford. “The Earleigh Heights volunteers own about $50 million worth of rolling apparatus and contribute the expertise, manpower and labor to use them. (Conversely, there are 15 county-owned stations with budgets running about $350 million a year.) People don’t realize that, if EHVFC went away tomorrow, there would have to be a $1,700 tax increase for every single homeowner to cover fire and rescue operations for the district.”
Obviously, the need to raise funds for a new firehouse for the volunteers is critical. According to Crawford, some of the Anne Arundel County Council members, including District 3’s Nathan Volke, District 5’s Amanda Fiedler and District 7’s Shannon Ledbetter get the importance of EHVFC to the community and feel as strongly about the need for construction funding as he does. Hopefully, the public will take notice. Any and all donations are appreciated no matter how small. Individuals wishing to make a donation my visit Donations – Earleigh Heights VFC (ehvfc.org).
Diehl’s among local produce stands that support our farmers
In our ongoing efforts to #SupportOurLocalFarmers, farmstands, farmers’ markets and produce stands, we circled back to Diehl’s Produce in Severna Park – a favorite local business for 57 years.
Always fun to talk to, manager Jennifer Diehl acknowledged that the stand has continued to uphold a tradition dating back to the days when her father Doug made early-morning runs to the Eastern Shore for sweet corn and tomatoes or to Adams County, Pennsylvania for apples.
“Peaches are in season so we’re selling our wonderful Adams County peaches and apples right now. The sweet corn still comes from the Eastern Shore and is better than ever this year,” Diehl said.
Shielded from the sun by a filmy curtain, an entire corner of one of the tents is devoted to the peaches which look and smell great.
Diehl said the cantaloupes from both the Eastern Shore and from Carroll County are sweet and plentiful. The seeded melons, Canary melons and yellow melons are from the Eastern Shore too.
Much-sought-after tomatoes from the Eastern Shore are a perennial hit and are particularly flavorful this summer according to Diehl.
Summer vegetables ranging from string beans to cucumbers and peppers stream into the stand daily with some from Anne Arundel and Carroll Counties and others from the Eastern Shore. There are also beautiful sunflowers provided to the stand for 50 years by a local gent who also supplies summer squash.
Diehl’s Produce hours are 9 am to 6 pm daily and on Sunday from 9 am to 5 pm. You can follow Diehl’s Produce daily at Facebook to see what’s just coming in.
The Around The Park Again column is brought to you this week by Jing Ying Institute of Kung Fu and Tai Chi at 1195 Baltimore Annapolis Blvd. – For over two decades providing martial arts training that improves cardio-vascular health, strength and flexibility while reducing stress. Jing Ying is again bringing Tai Chi to the Severna Park Community Center.)
and by Lean On Dee Senior Home Care Services at 815 Ritchie Hwy., Suite 206 – When you need someone to lean on, Lean On Dee. Their experienced team of personal care management specialists and friendly companions provide high quality consistent care.
