The Solomons Volunteer Rescue Squad and Fire Department (SVRSFD) is seeking your input and support regarding a potential relocation of our facility. Since the Rescue Squad was established in 1954, the need for our services has grown.
We were initially stationed in a small garage on Solomons Island and then moved to a location on the north end of Solomons near Holiday Drive. In the late 70s, land was donated at Dowell Road to build a larger (our current) station because of greatly increased call volume.
In a joint effort with the Calvert County Board of County Commissioners and the Calvert County Department of Public Safety, we are considering the relocation of the SVRSFD to a more centralized location within our response area, to better service our community.
The potential move would relocate SVRSFD approximately 1.5 miles north on HG Trueman Road to the Lusby Town Center.
Our current area of responsibility covers 29 square miles and coverage of Calvert, St Mary’s and Charles County shoreline as well as the Eastern Shore and we currently service 21,398 citizens according to the 2010 census, which is the most current data available.
In April of 2014, Calvert County Government hired a third-party firm – Edmeades & Stromdahl, Ltd. – to review our existing facilities. The report titled “Calvert County Fire Rescue EMS Department Survey,” noted in Section II.C.4 that the long-term recommendations for our facilities are to be combined under one roof and be centrally located in our response area. SVRSFD is scheduled for a new facility in the coming years to plan for future growth.
Based on statistics provided by Calvert County Fire-Rescue-EMS Division, moving the station to a more central location will move us closer to the majority of our call volume. The move would have a minimal effect on the response time to Solomons from the proposed new location, response time to Solomons would increase by one minute or less.
Currently, SVRSFD has two facilities: The main station is located at 13150 HG Trueman Road, Solomons, MD and the annex is located at 11430 Little Cove Point Road, Lusby MD. Two stations are required to meet the current Insurance Services Office (ISO) ratings. An ISO fire rating is a score provided to fire departments and insurance companies by the Insurance Services Office. The ISO score reflects the community’s fire preparedness and may affect an individual’s insurance. Part of the ISO standards are that the facility is to be within 5-miles of its response area.
In 2020, there were 11,513 emergency incidents in Calvert County. SVRSFD was responsible for 3,066 of those emergency responses, which is 26.6% of the total emergency responses in Calvert County.
Over the last 10 years, SVRSFD has been the busiest combined (EMS/Fire) company in Calvert County. Of the 3,066 calls, 67% of those emergency responses were in the Lusby area, confirming our facility’s needs to be more centrally located within our response area.
Over the last 3 years, there have been over 1,000 houses added to the Lusby area, with more projected in the future. Public outreach begins with our mailer and will be followed by meetings with impacted homeowners’ associations, business associations and this town-hall meeting. The SVRSFD and our members would like to thank you in advance for our valuable input and support. We are truly “VOLUNTEERS PROUD TO SERVE.”
If you have any questions, please email [email protected].
Refreshments will be provided. The event will be live streamed as well.
