Millsboro Fire Co. to staff substation with ambulance crew
When a fire alarm sounds, every second counts.
So, in summer 2021, there was no doubt when the Millsboro Fire Co. decided to expand west.
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Millsboro Fire Co. to staff substation with ambulance crew
By Glenn RolfeMILLSBORO — When a fire alarm sounds, every second counts.
So, in summer 2021, there was no doubt when the Millsboro Fire Co. decided to expand west.
Since last year, a substation along Del. 24 has augmented the longtime State Street fixture on the east side of town. Station 2, at the corner of Del. 24 and Lewis Road, is just outside town limits and not far from the Plantation Lakes community.
Several pieces of firefighting equipment are housed there, including an engine, a ladder truck, a brush truck and a command truck. It is not staffed with fire personnel, as those responders go to whichever station is closer to them.
Soon, however, the substation will include a relocated ambulance crew.
Town Councilman Ron O’Neal, the fire company’s president, said at Monday’s meeting that the upgrade could be made next week.
“We had some modifications that we had to make to that house. We have installed a camera system. We have installed a security system,” he said. “I believe, probably within the next week, you’ll see an ambulance crew stationed down there, at least during the day to start off.”
Given the town’s rapid growth on its western side — spurred in large part by Plantation Lakes — it made sense to consider the expansion.
far, it has served its purpose, exceeding expectations, Councilman O’Neal said.
During an alarm, firefighters respond to the closest station.
“They will go to the station depending on where they live,” he said. “We have guys that respond to the in-town station, simply because they live that close. Then, we have guys that respond to the substation because they live out that way.”
Meanwhile, fire police drive their own vehicles and respond directly to the incident.
Councilman O’Neal added that there is a target time from when the alarm sounds to when the first apparatus leaves either station.
“Eight minutes is from the time that the alarm is sounded, or dispatched, until the time we get a piece of apparatus on the road,” he said. “That’s kind of a standard that we shoot for. ... It’s kind of an unofficial mark that everybody shoots for.”
