Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service

History

Recruit Class 1 for MCFRS began on 2/29/1988.

The MCFRS went to Oklahoma City in 1995 to conduct USAR operations after the Oklahoma City bombing.

In 2001, the MCFRS went to Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia aboard RideOn buses to assist in urban search and rescue (USAR) efforts immediately after the September 11 attacks.

In 2004, the County Council passed legislation to reorganize the Fire & Rescue Service by placing all personnel, career and volunteer, under the command of a single fire chief.{{cite press release However, actual services are delivered most commonly from career personal operating out of volunteer owned stations across the county with volunteers serving in the evening hours and on weekends to increase manpower during periods of high call volume. This system is due to the population size of the county and need for round the clock services. The county uses the standard incident command system to coordinate the efforts of career and volunteer personnel at the scenes of emergencies.

Montgomery County also works closely with and has mutual aid agreements with DC Fire & EMS, Fairfax County Fire & Rescue, Frederick County Fire & Rescue, Howard County Fire & Rescue, and Prince George's County Fire/EMS.

In April 2020, MCFRS implemented a COVID-19 Surge Plan which included the staffing of more BLS ambulances, as well as moving ALS providers from AFRA and medic units to chase cars. This, paired with a continuous Blue Alert, which goes in effect when an EMS jurisdictional system is temporarily taxed to its limits in providing pre hospital care and ambulance transportation due to extraordinary situations that contribute to high demand for ambulance service, and decontamination teams stationed at each of the main hospitals in the county enabled proper patient distribution and lessoned the burden on the system. The Plan was ended in June 2020.

On June 30, 2023, Fire Chief Scott Goldstein left MCFRS for a fire and rescue department in Cowlitz County, Washington. Goldstein had been chief since June 2015. On July 9, 2024 Montgomery County Council confirmed Corey Smedley appointment as Chief of MCFRS.

Ranks

Fire Chief, Division Chief, Assistant Chief, Battalion Chief, Captain, Lieutenant, Master Firefighter, Firefighter 3, Firefighter 2, Firefighter 1, Recruit, Candidate

Stations and Apparatus

The county is broken into five battalions, with a total of 37 fire stations and 2 rescue squads.

Stations 36 and 39 are not listed as they are not in service as of September 2025.

***** Denotes Special Operations Station

• Stations 7, 20, 28, 25 - Hazmat Response Team
• Stations 10, 30, 14 - Swift Water Rescue Team
• Stations 25, 29, 31 - Technical Rescue Team (TRT)
• Station 23 - Emergency Response Team (ERT)

;Abbreviations

• A - Ambulance
• ALS - Paramedic Chase Vehicle
• AT - Aerial Tower
• B - Brush
• BC - Battalion Chief
• BE - Brush Engine
• BS - Boat Support
• BT - Boat
• BUTV - Brush Utility Task Vehicle
• CP - Command Post
• CT - Canteen
• DC - Duty Operations Chief
• E - Engine
• EMS - EMS Duty Officer
• EW - Engine Tanker
• HM - HazMat Unit
• M - Medic Unit
• MAB - Medical Ambulance Bus
• MAU - Mobile Air Unit
• MCSU - Medical Care Support Unit
• PAT - Paramedic Aerial Tower
• PBE - Paramedic Brush Engine
• PE - Paramedic Engine
• PRE - Paramedic Rescue Engine
• PT- Paramedic Truck
• RE - Rescue Engine
• RS - Rescue Squad
• SA - Safety Officer
• SU - Support Unit
• SW - Swift Water
• T - Truck
• TR - Technical Rescue
• UTV - Utility Task Vehicle
• W - Tanker

References

References

1. 911NewsCoverage. (4 July 2014). "ABC (WJLA) 9-11-2001 News Coverage 11:00 PM - 12:00 AM".
2. "Message From The Chief".
3. "Montgomery County Council Confirms Corey Smedley as County Fire and Rescue Service Chief".