The nearly 2,700 certified and trained career and volunteer responders of the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service (MCFRS) answer more than 120,000 calls each year. Although MCFRS has worked hard to diversify its numbers, it still has many more males than females. Which is what made one night in November so different.
On the evening shift that day at the Kensington Volunteer Fire Department, all six crew members at Station 5 were female. Volunteers staff Station 5 in the evening and only females staffed Paramedic Engine 705 and Ambulance 705 that night. The MCFRS does not keep formal records of staffing by gender, but even long-time professional and volunteers could not cite another instance when an entire MCFRS crew was only staffed by females.
The Kensington Volunteer Fire Department has four stations. Station 5 is located at 10620 Connecticut Ave., on the corner with Plyers Mill Road, in Old Town Kensington.
The Montgomery County Volunteer Fire and Rescue Association (MCVFRA) consists of 19 separate, independent, fire and rescue corporations around the County and its members serve as an integral component of the greater Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service.
More information about joining the MCFRS as either a professional or volunteer is available at https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/mcfrs/.
