Harford County has an all-volunteer fire and emergency medical service,
with 11 fire companies and 1 ambulance company serving the county. (This does not include the Aberdeen Proving Ground
Fire Department, which is a professional federal fire department, and which assists Harford County companies.) There are no
career firefighters anywhere in the county: Every community and town is protected solely by volunteers, and every fire station
is owned and operated by a volunteer fire company. There are a few paid paramedics, who are available to supplement
the volunteers on a limited basis upon request.
The Harford County Government does not supervise or control any
aspect of fire protection or emergency medical service. Under the County's Charter, drafted in the mid-1970s, that responsibility
is delegated to the volunteer fire companies, and to the organizations that represent them collectively. There is no
Harford County employee, and no elected official, who has any control over any aspect of fire protection or EMS.
Each volunteer fire company is an independent corporation. Each volunteer
fire company serves a specific territory, and several fire companies operate main stations and sub-stations within their territories.
The fire companies’ territories are delineated by specific boundaries. Those boundaries are not necessarily based on
proximity to fire stations, and the authority to shift them lies solely with the chiefs of the volunteer fire companies.
For purposes of fire protection and emergency medical service, Harford County is, in effect, divided into 12 separate "towns."
Apparatus and personnel from one company cannot operate in the territory
of another company except at the specific invitation or request of the chief of that territory’s fire company. In the
fire service generally, the phrase "mutual aid" is used to describe assistance rendered by one political subdivision to another
(from Anne Arundel County to Baltimore City, for example). In Harford County, the phrase "mutual aid" is used to describe
one fire company operating in the territory of another (from Bel Air to Abingdon, for example). Not only is there is
no unified fire service in Harford County; the very concept of a countywide fire service does not exist.
Chiefs of the volunteer fire companies are elected by their company’s
members. Within the territory each fire company serves, the chief of that company is wholely and solely responsible for all
fire protection and emergency medical service, and has the absolute authority to make any decision he deems necessary. The
chiefs are accountable to no one except the fire company members who elect them.
Emergency calls are dispatched by Harford County employees who staff the
Emergency Operations Center in Hickory, but each volunteer chief determines the dispatch protocols and procedures to be used
in his particular territory.
There is no requirement that fire stations be manned, and many if not most
fire stations are in fact unmanned for much of any given day. Some fire companies apparently try to schedule personnel
to be on-duty at certain times, but this is inconsistent and does not guarantee adequate coverage or a prompt response in
the event of an emergency.
When a Harford County volunteer fire company is alerted for a call, all
of its stations and personnel are alerted, and a response may come from any of its stations within the territory, regardless
of whether that station is closest to the scene of the emergency. In an emergency, the chief of the volunteer fire company
is the incident commander. Should additional equipment, or assistance from another fire company, be needed, the decision to
request that assistance can come only from the chief. No elected or appointed County official has any control or jurisdiction
over any fire or emergency medical incident.
In addition to funds raised from the citizens of their territories, Harford
County’s fire companies receive several million dollars from the County. (Specific amounts vary by company.) There is
no control by elected or appointed County officials over how this money is spent. Audit reports are submitted, but the expenditures
listed on those reports are accepted without question.
