La Plata, MD – With notification from the National Weather Service during the week, Charles County Fire Chief Mark Kaufmann Jr. sent out weather updates beginning Tuesday, Feb. 28 communicating with county fire and emergency medical service (EMS) department leaders of the impending severe wind event for Friday, March 2 and Saturday, March 3. His leadership team worked throughout the week ensuring all fire and EMS departments in Charles County were “in a high state of readiness” in preparation for “2018 Windstorm Riley.”
Working with County EMS Chief Guy Yesse, Special Operations Chief Dave Williams, Emergency Management Chief Michelle Lilly, Charles County Department of Emergency Services and its 911 center, the volunteer fire and EMS departments responded to over “500 calls for service on Friday,” over “100 calls for service on Saturday” and “over 100 calls for service on Sunday. Hundreds of trees down, hundreds of power lines down, not inclusive of the additional 911 calls for the three day weekend period.
Congratulations for “a job well done” to every volunteer fire and EMS member including auxiliary members who helped out this weekend.
The Charles County Fire/EMS Associations thank the entire 911 communications staff for the excellent professionalism and total commitment to ensuring the public requests for service were met. And finally, special thanks to our Sheriff’s Office, Maryland State Police and SMECO for their outstanding assistance in making our county return to a safe community.