mh/firesta.pr       97-271              Contact: Scott Gutschick, 301-217-3696

FIRE AND RESCUE COMMISSION
TO HOLD MEETING ON FIRE AND
RESCUE SERVICE IN SILVER SPRING
AND TAKOMA PARK                    For Immediate Release: August 22, 1997


     The public is invited to attend a meeting of the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue 
Commission on September 8 for discussions on replacement of the County's two oldest fire-
rescue stations -- Silver Spring Fire Station #1, 8131 Georgia Avenue; and Takoma Park Fire 
Station #2, 7201 Carroll Avenue.
      The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. in the auditorium of the Maryland-National
Capital Park and Planning Commission, 8787 Georgia Avenue, Silver Spring.  
     Public forums on this issue took place in December 1996 and June 1997, where
recommendations of the Silver Spring/Takoma Park Fire-Rescue Work Group and the Ad Hoc
Fire Service Task Force were discussed.  The work group, representing the County's fire-
rescue service, local government, the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning
Commission, and the Silver Spring Regional Advisory Board, recommends that Station 2 be
replaced or expanded at or near its present site and that Silver Spring Stations 1 and 19
(Station 19 is presently located at 1945 Seminary Road) be combined into a single, new
facility on Spring Street.  This proposed station would operate an engine, aerial unit,
paramedic unit, and basic life support ambulance.
                                  -more-

MEETING ON LOCATION OF FIRE STATIONS              2-2-2-2

     Independent of the work group, the Ad Hoc Fire Service Task Force of the Silver 
Spring Redevelopment Steering Committee was established earlier this year to study the same
issue.  The task force, composed of residents and business owners in the greater Silver Spring
area,  recommends that Station 1 be rebuilt within the same geographic area of Fenton Street 
Village, and that Station 2 and 19 remain open, and that there be no reduction in equipment
or staffing at these three stations. 
     Following the September 8 meeting, the Fire and Rescue Commission will formulate
its recommendation to County Executive Douglas M. Duncan concerning the sites and
configuration of fire and rescue service in Silver Spring and Takoma Park.
     For more information, call 301-217-2461.
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