ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY, Md. — Firefighters are invaluable to public safety.
WATCH: AA County Firefighters union says 350 more firefighters needed in the county
But the Anne Arundel County Firefighters Union told WMAR-2 News that safety could be in jeopardy if they continue to have to do more with less.
Casey Cameron, 3rd Vice President with the Anne Arundel County Professional Fire Fighters Local 1563 union, said a firefighter shortage is making their jobs harder.
"We constantly do the job of four people with three at majority of our fire stations," Cameron said.
The union said, according to an independent study, the county is down 350 firefighters from the national safe standard of four people per fire engine.
Cameron told us that they only meet that standard at four fire stations out of 31.
"So not only are we operating with three firefighters on majority of our apparatus, we put apparatus out of service because we don't have enough people to staff that."
As a firefighter and paramedic, he's seen firsthand how the shortage affects workflow.
"The driver is responsible for getting the firefighter water, but because we only have three, normally the driver is having to help the firefighter more because they don't have a backup firefighter to help them".
Union members have been to many county budget town halls to resolve the problem.
Cameron said Fire Chief and County Executive Steuart Pittman are both aware and are working with them on the situation.
WMAR-2 News reached out to both for comment, but we haven't heard back at the time of publication.
The union is calling for the county to secure federal grant money for staffing.
Cameron said it still won't be enough.
"That's the problem with this county, is if we're relying on only a grant, then things aren't going to change. We're hoping in the budget that the fire chief, whatever she asks for, that we get staffing from the county executive, just because we're unsure if the grant will be funded this year."
He knows the change can't happen overnight.
"We're not going to be able to train and get 350 firefighters on the street tomorrow. We're just working with the county to come up with a plan because this has to stop. We can't continue to do this with no end in sight."
He told us members will attend Tuesday night's county council meeting.
