Around Broadneck: At fire station, devotion reigns

By WENDI WINTERS, For The Capital

When the Arnold Volunteer Firehouse Station 17 was founded in 1943, most of its current crop of engine riders weren't even twinkles in someone's eye. Their parents hadn't been born yet.

And it wasn't until the late 1960s that the station became a combination volunteer and career fire department. Station 17 has about 30 active volunteers, in addition to the career firefighters and EMS workers, 21 of whom are cleared to ride the engines. To stay on active status, volunteers need to log in at least 24 hours a month; most do much more than that.

On one recent evening, nearly a dozen volunteers were on duty at the Church Road station.

Except for three guys - Jason Ferris of Severna Park, a probationary firefighter and automotive technician for Environmental Auto Service; 13-year veteran Kevin Knussman of Easton, a stay-at-home dad and part-time medic; and Annapolis resident Randy Hopkins, a tile layer - all of the evening's volunteers were Arnold residents.

One longtime volunteer, Kent Butler, was tethered to a slim oxygen tank he pulled along like a child's toy. He can't fight fires ("Hoo-boy, I wouldn't last long!" he laughs), but is invaluable as an administrative volunteer and stationhouse godfather. Chuck Kennedy, a 50-year-old Johns Hopkins engineer of applied physics, was days away from turning his duties as volunteer chief over to Eric Schulkowski.

That's chief with a small C. Volunteer and career firefighters have to achieve a certain level of certification to be designated chief, but calling firefighters Kennedy or Schulkowski "boss" just sounds silly. They were elected to their lead positions by the group's board of directors.

Smells of takeout food from Subway and a Chinese restaurant across Route 2 curled around the silent engines and up into a second-floor dining area. The volunteers had already cleaned the engines, run a daily inspection of the unit's defibrillator and tidied up around the house. Members of the crew were watching TV and engaging in good-natured ribbing before heading to the parking lot at Windsor Farm Elementary School for practice.

"At this station, we probably respond to 100 to 200 fires every year, but most are extremely minor and cause little damage," Mr. Kennedy said. About 75 percent of the calls are Emergency Medical Service-related, he added.

Wayne Handschur, a probationary firefighter, added: "Headaches - yes, headaches, stubbed toes, heart attacks. People hesitate to take themselves to the hospital." Tall with a wry sense of humor, he's a native of Brooklyn. His grandfather was a longtime volunteer at the fire department in Smithtown, Long Island, and he's carrying on the tradition. "Some of the old folks know us by name," he said. "They sometimes just want someone to talk to."

All the volunteers said they joined the station to give back or get more involved in the community.

Administrative volunteer Kurt Snyder doesn't ride the engines, but his job monitoring the phones and computers and helping with fund-raising details is indispensable. "Administrative jobs go begging," says Mr. Kennedy. "They're as valuable as a firefighter. It takes a load off of us if someone else can run the fund-raising so we can run training and practices. We need more volunteers like that.

"It takes a lot of money to run the station. Our fire calls are about the same, but our emergency medical calls have been increasing at least 10 percent every year." The department never seeks money over the phone. In early October, it traditionally goes door-to-door with a family photo fund-raising promotion. It has a mailer campaign in the spring.

The crew hopped aboard a new-looking 1993 engine with 30,000 miles on it, scrambled into the brush engine (a small truck used for fighting scrub fires) or climbed into the fire chief's red car and headed to Windsor Farm Elementary.

Besides Mr. Handschur, who provides computer support for American Home Mortgage, and Mr. Ferris, the other probationary firefighters are Heather Green, a special investigator for an insurance company, and Andrew Voytek, who takes care of the athletic turf at South River High School. All need to keep their skills sharp.

"We do a lot of training here," Mr. Kennedy noted. "Our volunteers have full-time jobs elsewhere, so when they're on duty here we run constant training drills to bring them up and keep them up on a level with the career guys. Plus, they have to take the EMT class as part of their firefighting certification."

Ms. Green was learning how to loop a hose coupling around a hydrant, signal the engine to pull off to reel out hose, attach the coupling, and open the hydrant with a special wrench. It looks easy on paper - but it's hard, physical work and she has less than three minutes and 35 seconds to do it. Also, there's a dizzying array of supply and attack hose lines stored atop the engine - pulling the wrong one wastes precious minutes.

Mr. Ferris had several years of experience with the volunteer fire department in Prince George's County, but when he and Mr. Hopkins put on their helmets and gear to run the drill themselves, they began sweating freely in the cool evening air. Later, Ms. Green was handed a hose and instructed to turn it on. The force nearly knocked her over.

"Heck, we only had it at one-half force," one volunteer joked, before explaining that another firefighter usually stands behind the hose holder as a brace.

Firefighters Kennedy, Knussman and Schulkowski ran the drills over and over, patiently demonstrating fire-tested techniques for running a line, saturating a fire with water and moving quickly. By 9:45 p.m., the volunteers were exhausted. It was time to gas up the buggies and head back to the station. After more cleaning, an exciting night of dominoes lay ahead.

Andrew Voytek wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"All this planning for something that may or may not happen," he observed. "But if we save one life ..."

Please e-mail news to Wendi Winters at BroadneckNews@quantumstep.com;

write to her c/o The Capital, P.O. Box 911, Annapolis, MD 21404; or fax to 410-280-5953.

Site Updated 08/01/2004