PRINCESS ANNE, Md. -- A few days ago, one of the big bay doors at the Princess Anne Volunteer Fire Company collapsed. It's forced firefighters to adapt to a 'new normal' until the door is replaced.
The door blew out on December 18 during a heavy storm. While the fire company labeled this as a "catastrophic failure", they also said the door was 21 years old and failures were bound to happen.
Now, a hanging tarp serves as a coverup for where the door, which is not being used, was. But, Lemuel White, president of the Princess Anne Volunteer Fire Company said the broken door won't delay their response time.
However, White did say it's been a bit of a struggle getting the fire engines in and out of the bays.
"Now we have to push them out the side route, which those two trucks fighting out of that little, smaller door, it is a little bit of a hassle, but we made it work," said White.
The rescue and tower truck now sit in the back of the bay and the smaller truck and brush truck have taken their place. It means if a call comes in, those trucks have to carefully maneuver out the side door.
"Getting in and out with the rescue and tower truck is tighter," said White. "So we have to be careful we don't wreck the tower or the rescue truck because they're both vital to the community."
White said the change in layout has taken some getting used to.
"Most of the guys when they grab their gear, they're used to if we get an accident we're going to the rescue truck, the rescue trucks sits down here[points to the front of the engine bay], now we got to remember we got to go to the back of the bay to get to the rescue truck," said White.
It could be February before a new door can get installed. So, it's going to take some patience, and $15,000, before they are operating normally.
"This is our norm, we got to get used to it," said White.
After this recent challenge, the volunteer fire company will evaluate the other two doors and make any necessary repairs to prevent this from happening again.
A new norm, but Princess Anne volunteer firefighters say they're as ready as ever to help their community, when and if it's needed.
The volunteer fire company said while they do get some funding from the state and county, they rely heavily on donations from the community. If you'd like to help with the payment for a new door, you can send money directly to the Princess Anne Volunteer Fire Company.
The address is: 11794 Somerset Ave, Princess Anne, MD, 21853.
