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Volunteer fire companies and EMS training program push for budget changes and fleet funding
Summary
Volunteer leaders and county volunteers urged Baltimore County leaders to increase funding for volunteer apparatus, ease loan requirements for ladder truck purchases, and revive a high school emergency services training program that produces certified EMTs and firefighters.
Volunteer fire and emergency service representatives used the District 4 budget town hall to press officials for near‑term funding changes and program restoration to address falling volunteer ranks and aging apparatus.
Daniel Bollinger, president of the Glendon Volunteer Fire Department and a retired Baltimore County firefighter, said his department recently signed a contract to replace a 28‑year‑old ladder truck and asked county leaders to reduce a required down payment for the Baltimore County Volunteer Firefighters Association loan fund from 25% to 20% to ease the local match for volunteer companies. Bollinger said the loan fund “can supply 75% of the cost of their ladder trucks… We're asking you to allow the fund to decrease required down payment from 25% to 20.”
Susan Bollinger, president of the Baltimore County Volunteer Fire Fighters Association, told officials that volunteer companies are operating older apparatus and that EMS demand has risen while EMS funding has not kept pace. She said emergency medical service calls have increased 36% while EMS funding rose only 6%, and that some medic unit replacements will cost about $2,200,000 this year while only $1,000,000 is allocated. She said the volunteer fleet has declined since 2016 by “31 major pieces.”
Brad Bondroff, a firefighter at the Owings Mills Volunteer Fire Company, urged revival of the Baltimore County Emergency Services Training Program for high school juniors and seniors, saying the program produces certified EMTs and firefighters in one year and “creates a pipeline of trained responders.” Bondroff said student transportation, a prior barrier, has been solved for an initial year: Woodlawn Motor Coach agreed to donate transportation for the first year, which he said eliminates costs to the county for year one.
Why it matters: multiple speakers emphasized that volunteers lower response cost and increase capacity; the presenters argued that without new funding and program support specialty services and volunteer numbers could decline further.
Details: Bollinger said a ladder truck replacement price is roughly $2,000,000 and that reducing the down payment requirement to 20% would cut the local down payment by about $100,000. Susan Bollinger said the county needs about $10,000,000 to replace six engines and ladder trucks past their extended life.
Ending: Speakers asked county leaders to consider short‑term loan adjustments, larger EMS allocations in the operating budget, and reinstating the school‑based training program as part of FY26 planning.
