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Firefighters and union warn of staffing crisis, mandatory overtime at Prince George's Fire/EMS

3210782 · May 6, 2025
AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

Firefighters and the county's professional firefighters association testified that staffing shortages and mandatory overtime are creating a long-term crisis, urging the council to address hiring, retention and pay in the FY26 budget.

Firefighters and the county's union testified May 6 that chronic understaffing, widespread mandatory overtime and low regional pay have created a staffing crisis at Prince George's County Fire/EMS that threatens response times and service levels.

The Most Newsworthy: Jamie Tolson, a firefighter/EMT and member of Local 1619, told the council the department is short about 94 sworn firefighters and faces potential further attrition through retirements; Tolson described mandatory callback rules that prohibit commonly accepted…

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