The Officers and members of the Second District Volunteer Fire Department & Rescue Squad are excited and proud to announce that as of March 8, 2022, they have officially relocated into their new Fire/Emergency Medical Services station located at 19330 Piney Point Road, directly behind the old station.
The Department has been in their old station at 25245 Drayden Road since 1961. The old station provided service to the Second and Ninth Districts as well as surrounding areas for over 61 years.
Through the years, the station became much too small as the size, number, and complexity of emergency vehicles became larger. Improvements to protect the health and safety of our firefighters and EMS members was a driving force for the station layout. More administrative functions required more office spaces, and a growing membership needed additional space for the comforts of home while on duty. As of this writing, the old station remains the property of the SDVFD&RS, and for the time being, the social hall will still be available for community and private events.
Beginning in 2013, 7 years of intense planning by the New Building Committee, consisting of Cathy Caulder as Chair, Greg Adams, Dan Browne, J.P. Caulder, Stephanie Boyd, Georgia Wheeler, Mike Roberts, and the late Fuzzy Knott ensued.
The committee members as well as other members, spent hundreds of hours attending meetings, public hearings, planning sessions, interview panels, and financial inquiries, as well as other administrative details, with construction finally beginning on July 30, 2020.
Greg Adams led the financial planning, assisted by our book keeper Diana Little, and Treasurer Mike Scrivener.
Our wonderful Auxiliary, always faithful and busy, continued to raise funds through various activities that contributed significantly to the overall project.
Additionally, the Fundraising Committee, consisting of DeeDee Johnson as chair, Stephanie Boyd, Cathy Caulder, Dan Browne, Georgia Wheeler, Darlene Johnson, Jim Rodriguez, and the late Fuzzy Knott and Mike Johnson, held various functions such as Valentine’s Day Dinner/Dances, Auctions, T-Shirt Sales, Car Washes, Golf Cart, Shotgun, and quilt raffles, as well as the current, on-going “Buy a Brick” Memorial Brick Program to raise additional funds for our new station.
The architectural firm of Maginniss + del Ninno Architects, located in Alexandria, VA was selected to perform the architectural and engineering design functions, and Great Mills Trading Post Co., Inc. of Great Mills, MD, was selected as the General Contractor for construction.
At a cost of 11.5 million dollars, covered by loans from St. Mary’s County, Community Bank of the Chesapeake, and SDVFD&RS New Building Fund, as well as the additional fundraising efforts discussed above, the new station will provide continued Fire/EMS services for the next 50+ years.
The new Fire/EMS station consists of approximately 30,000 square feet of floor space containing the latest technology available for Fire/EMS stations.
Specific spaces and features are as follows;
- A full, automatic fire detection and suppression system.
- Controlled access and full camera coverage for most areas of the station.
- The latest response alerting system devices with audio/visual capabilities.
- Complete internet and IT capabilities for officers and members.
- An Emergency Notification Alarm, located in the main entrance vestibule for drive up citizens to activate when help is needed.
- 7 drive through bays, 4 for fire apparatus, and 3 for emergency medical services.
- Complete vehicle exhaust capture system in the apparatus bays.
- Separate fire and EMS turnout gear storage areas.
- Decontamination management area including turnout gear washer and dryer.
- Apparatus maintenance tool shop.
- Self-contained breathing apparatus maintenance shop and fill station.
- Breathing air compressor with storage system and oxygen storage room.
- Fire equipment storage room.
- EMS equipment storage room.
- A training room, with state-of-the-art audio-visual equipment and internet access for students.
- Administrative office spaces for Executive and Line officers.
- Computer and internet access for members to study and complete required fire and emergency medical services training.
- A conference/workroom for smaller meetings and work groups.
- Dedicated areas for members to sleep, eat, relax, as well as perform physical training.
- Several training props for rescue and ladder training scenarios are also incorporated into the structure
- Storage, laundry area, HVAC and machinery spaces.
An open house for the community to view and tour our new Fire/EMS station is planned for April 24, 2022 from 2:00 p.m., to 5:00 p.m.
