The Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service (MCFRS), officially the Montgomery County Department of Fire and Rescue Services (DFRS), is the public safety agency that provides fire protection and emergency medical services for Montgomery County, Maryland. The services are provided by a combination of paid county personnel and volunteer members of the various independent, non-profit volunteer fire and rescue corporations located throughout the county.
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. However, actual services are delivered from local fire and rescue companies, who own and operate the fire stations in the county. The county uses an incident command system to coordinate the efforts of paid and volunteer personnel at the scenes of emergencies. Montgomery County works closely with and has mutual aid agreements with Washington, D.C., Fairfax, Frederick, Howard, and Prince George's counties.[2][3]
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.[4]
Stations and Apparatus
The county is broken into five battalions, with a total of 36 fire stations and 2 rescue squads.
Station
Company
Battalion
Engine Company or Paramedic Engine Company
Special Service Units
EMS Units
Other units
1
Silver Spring VFD
1st Battalion
PE701
M701, A701, A701B, ALS701
DCN701
2
Takoma Park VFD
1st Battalion
PE702, E702B
A702, A702B
3
Rockville VFD
3rd Battalion
PE703, PE703B
AT703, RS703
M703, A703, A703B, A703C, ALS703
SU703, UT703B, UT703C
4
Sandy Spring VFD
4th Battalion
PE704
A704
W704
5
Kensington VFD - Old Town
4th Battalion
PE705, PE705B
A705, A705B,
B705, CT705
6
Bethesda FD
2nd Battalion
PE706
T706
A706
7*
Chevy Chase FD
2nd Battalion
PE707
A/M707 (BCCRS staffed)
HM707, UT707
8
Gaithersburg-Washington Grove VFD
3rd Battalion
PE708
PAT708
M708, A708, A708B, A708C, ALS708
CT708, B708, UT708, UT708B, UTV708, BUTV708
9
Hyattstown VFD
5th Battalion
PRE709, RBE709
B709, B709B, W709, UT709, UTV709
10*
Cabin John Park VFD
2nd Battalion
PE710, E710B
T710
A710, ALS710
SW710, SW710B, UT710
11
Glen Echo FD
2nd Battalion
PE711
A711, A711B, ALS711
UT711,
UTV711
12
Hillandale VFD
1st Battalion
PE712
M712, A712
BC701, UT712, UTV712
13
Damascus VFD
5th Battalion
PE713, E713B,
BE713
M713, A713
B713, W713
14*
Upper Montgomery County VFD
5th Battalion
PRE714,
BE714
M714
A714 (Volunteer staffed when available)
UT714, UTV714, B714, CT714, BT714, SW714, W714
15
Burtonsville VFD
1st Battalion
PE715,
PE715B
T715, RS715
M715, A715
B715, UT715
16
Silver Spring VFD - Four Corners
1st Battalion
PE716
T716
A716
MAU716
17
Laytonsville VFD
5th Battalion
PE717, EW717, BE717
RS717
A717
B717, CT717, W717
18
Kensington VFD - Glenmont
4th Battalion
PE718
AT718
A718
EMS704, CP718
19
Silver Spring VFD - Montgomery Hills
1st Battalion
PE719
AT719
20*
Bethesda FD - Midtown Bethesda
2nd Battalion
PE720
BC702
21
Kensington VFD - Viers Mill Village
4th Battalion
PE721
A721
22
Kingsview (MCFRS)
5th Battalion
PE722, BE722
A722
MAB722, MCSU722, W722, B722
23*
Rockville VFD - Twinbrook
3rd Battalion
PE723
AT723
M723, A723
24
Hillandale VFD - Colesville
1st Battalion
PE724, E724B
AT724
A724
A724B (Volunteer staffed when available)
B724
25*
Kensington VFD - Aspen Hill
4th Battalion
PE725
T725
ALS725, A725, A725B, A725C
BC704, SU725, BT725
26
Bethesda FD - North Bethesda
2nd Battalion
PE726
A/M726 (BCCRS staffed)
EMS702, MAB726, MCSU726
27
Public Safety Training Academy (MCFRS)
E727, E727B
T727
CP727
28*
Gaithersburg-Washington Grove VFD - Derwood
3rd Battalion
PE728
A728
HM728
29
Germantown VFD
5th Battalion
PE729, PE729B
RS729
M729, A729
BT729, SU729
30*
Cabin John Park VFD - Potomac
2nd Battalion
PE730
A730
W730, B730, SW730, SW730B, UT730
31*
Rockville VFD - Quince Orchard
3rd Battalion
PE731
T731
M731
BT731, W731, TR700, TR700B, SU731, UT731, UTV731
32
Travilah (MCFRS)
3rd Battalion
PE732
A732, M732
BC703, EMS703, SA700, DC700, CP732
33
Rockville VFD - Potomac
3rd Battalion
PE733
A733
B733, CT733, MAU733
34
Milestone (MCFRS)
5th Battalion
PE734
T734
A734
DCN734, BC705
35
Clarksburg (MCFRS)
5th Battalion
PE735
AT735
A735
40
Sandy Spring VFD - Olney
4th Battalion
PE740
AT740
A740
B740, BT740, CT740, UT740, UTV740, BUTV740
Rescue Co. 1
Bethesda-Chevy Chase Rescue Squad
2nd Battalion
RS741, RS741B
M741, A741B, A/M741C, A/M741D, ALS741, UT741
Rescue Co. 2
Wheaton Volunteer Rescue Squad
4th Battalion
RS742, RS742B
A742, A742B, A742C, A742D, ALS742, ALS742B
UT742, UTV742
50
NDW Bethesda (Federal)
E750, E750B
M750
51
National Institute of Health (Federal)
E751
AT751 AT751B
A751 A751B
HM751 HMSU751 TRSU751 CCO751 CO751 C751
52
Naval Surface Warfare Center (Federal)
E752
53
National Institutes of Standards and Technology (Federal)
E753 E753B
A753
HM753 B753 UT753 UT753B CMD753 SU753
54
Fort Detrick Forest Glen Annex (Federal)
E754, E754B
HM754 SU754
Stations listed in the above chart with red "(MCFRS)" or green "(Federal)" next to their names are government-owned. Stations that do not say "(MCFRS)" or "(Federal)" belong to volunteer fire & rescue corporations.