PRESIDENT's MESSAGE 

Greetings, welcome to all visitors to the Baltimore County Volunteer Firefighter’s Association web page. It is truly an honor to serve as the President of this organization. The goal of our organization and its member companies is to provide the highest quality Fire, Rescue, Rehabilitation and Emergency Medical Services to the citizens of Baltimore County. We take our oath of office seriously to provide service with competence, efficiency, and pride.

In Baltimore County we have a unique department which is a combination department of 29 Volunteer Companies and 25 Career stations that work together to provide quality services to our citizens. Although we do not share facilities with our career counterparts, we, as volunteers, complete the same training and provide service under the same operating procedures and standards. This enables us to work in unison with our career counterparts and provide the highest level of service to our citizens. The leadership of the association is happy to answer any questions you may have about the services we provide and the system in which we operate.

To our members I want to thank you for your continued dedication and unwavering service to your neighbors. The demands on our members have increased dramatically and they continue to step up and meet those demands. Members have seen significant increases in call volume post pandemic. Most of this increase has been seen in the Emergency Medical Services area of our services. We have seen significant increases in certification hours and increases in ongoing training to ensure quality service that provides safety for both the provider and the citizens. In recent months we have also been impacted by supply chain issues with equipment and supplies. We have seen the cost of providing services increase substantially in a very short period. This has caused pressure on our members to do increased fund raising as well as find ways to be more efficient in using our resources. We cannot thank you enough for your continued ability to step up, provide additional time and resources and think outside the box. I ask that you continue to look for ways that our service can become more diverse, efficient, and effective. We are constantly looking for ways to make our volunteer sector more sustainable. We are also working to improve our relationship with our career partners to provide the best service possible to our constituents.

I know that I can speak for the entire administration when I say we stand ready to serve you, our members, and are open to all suggestions.  The entire administration and I promise to diligently work for you and to be open and honest in all that we do.  While we may not always have an immediate answer, as the leadership staff, we will work diligently to get them for you. I look forward to working with our county executive, county council members, Local 1311, the career command staff and the Chief of the Baltimore County Fire Department to make our service the best in the nation.

Respectfully,

Susan Bollinger, President