SECRETARY, Md. — A Dorchester County fire company has some unwelcome activity in their parking lot and leaders are asking for it to stop.
The Secretary Volunteer Fire Company says someone has been recklessly driving outside the building — doing donuts in the parking lot next to the station. Members first noticed tire marks there Saturday morning, and a check of surveillance video showed someone doing donuts in the lot Friday night.
"I can understand wanting to have some fun,” fire company President and Lieutenant Jacob Clifton said. “I'm not really sure who the individual was. But a fire department parking lot is not really the appropriate place to do that.”
In a Facebook post to the community, fire company leaders describe the driving as dangerous, damaging and a liability for the fire company.
A screenshot of a Facebook post from the Secretary Volunteer Fire Company asking people to stop 'doing donuts' and driving recklessly in their parking lot.
The incident has raised eyebrows for some neighbors who describe this activity as unusual for the small town.
"We don't have a red light, so we're light less in town,” Kyle Rebstock, who lives down the road from the fire company, said. “...Extremely quiet, I would say. Very much so, you know, there's a few kids when we get some snow that'll be, you know, having some fun, on an ATV or something like that, like we all did when we were kids. But, that's very unusual. Extremely unusual, I would say, for Secretary.”
Because of the damage, fire company members now plan to redo the parking lot.
Fire company leaders say the parking lot is not just an empty space.
"We do vehicle extrication exercises out here,” Clifton said. “We've cut up many, many cars. We do host training. We do fire suppression training. We do all sorts of trainings out in this parking lot. Now, also in that same note, because we do those trainings, there's a lot of glass. There's a lot of nails. This is not the property where you want to be driving around in.”
The parking lot also serves as a site for community events.
Leaders say they have a simple request for whoever is responsible.
"Please don't do it again,” Clifton said. “Just please be very, very mindful that we are watching the cameras now. A little bit more than we used to. And again, we're not trying to deter the community from joining us at the department and coming to our events. This parking lot is still open and available to the public, but it's not available for donuts.”
Clifton says the company will now check its security system daily. He also tells WBOC they have not filed any police reports in connection with the incident.
