Who are our volunteers?
Abingdon Fire Company has over 200 volunteer members that have a wide range of backgrounds and experience. We range in ages from our cadets that can start at 16 years old to our most experienced members that have retired from their careers and have over 50 years of service with the company. The range of backgrounds is also diverse ranging from career firefighters’, construction workers, scientists, marketing specialists, students, truck drivers, homemakers, and many more.
Who do we serve?
Abingdon Fire Company covers 30 square miles in its first due area and provides fire, rescue and emergency medical services to an estimated 45,000 residents. It also supplies a mutual aid response to all of Harford County, Maryland with a population of approximately 250,000 residents. The first due response area of the Abingdon Fire Company is the fastest growing residential and commercial area in Harford County.
Within the first due area are many different landscapes and challenges that we must be prepared for. Some Examples are:
Aberdeen Proving Grounds – a large military installation on our border that we are in a mutual aid agreement with. APG houses many different commands within the U.S. Army and works with everything from cutting edge computer technologies to chemical and biological warfare materials research. Base Re-alignment and Closure (BRAC) is anticipated to add thousands of new jobs to APG in the next 5 years making our services in even greater demand.
Interstate 95 – thousands of vehicles each day pass through our area as they travel up and down the east coast that has the potential for hazardous cargo passing through our district. The Maryland House is also within our area.
Industrial Complexes – Riverside and Edgewood have several large manufacturing companies. These facilities are very large and can contain anything from raw materials to the finished products. Many of the buildings have industrial machinery that can be challenging to work with in an emergency.
Waterways – We have 23 square miles of waterways in our first due area. The Bush River and surrounding coastline are within our boundaries. During heavy rains we also have areas that flood and become swift water areas.
Railways – Within our territory we have two rail lines, owned by CSX and Amtrak. We have to be ready for calls involving commuter trains operated by Amtrak and MARC as well has rail cars full of hazardous cargo passes through our area every day.
Agricultural – There are still large farms and areas without hydrants in the northern part of our first due area. Responding to burning bails of hay, barns (with livestock), brush and field fires, and farm accidents are all possible in these areas of our district.
Residential – The population explosion is evident everywhere in our district with more dense and compact townhouses and single family homes being built in ever smaller spaces. We serve residential areas that range from properties with very high value homes to areas that are considered low income areas.