BERLIN, Md.- Saving lives in less time. That's what the Berlin Fire Company wants to continue to do. It is pushing for the addition of another fire station right on route 50 East.
"The eastern portion is growing rapidly with the Glen Riddle subdivision, the new Wal-Mart, the Ocean Landing shopping area and the new casino is much busier than the previous Downs Race track," said BFC President David Fitzgerald.
Fitzgerald said an additional fire station on that stretch of Route 50 would cut down on response time for emergencies.
"'The calls for public safety for fire and ambulance are greatly increasing in that area and our volunteer interest is increasing in that area," he said. "The next closest firehouse to us is the Main Street station so you can have a response time of two minutes that changes to eight or 10 minutes."
The company is raising private funds to put a firehouse on a piece of land it bought off of Route 50 East.
It's an area that Ed Tudor, the director of Worcester County's development and permitting, said has seen tremendous growth.
"One of the things we contend with all the time is visitors to the area, unfamiliar to the area and you get into an area where you have a lot more commercial growth, a lot more activity and more prone to accidents and calls for assistance," said Tudor.
Lorraine Fasciocco, who lives nearby, said she is all for the addition of a new fire station.
"This is the main route and you see how 50 can get backed up," she said. "Can you imagine when the cars have no where to go to let the fire engines through and this could happen here?"
So far the fire company has raised $20,000 of the $1 million needed.
Fitzgerald said the company hopes to begin construction of the new fire station by the end of 2012.
A fundraising board for a new fire station sits on Route 50 East in Berlin. (Photo: WBOC)
