Agenda: How Should County Spend Ambulance Fund Revenue?

Montgomery County Council meets most Tuesdays in Rockville.

Montgomery County Council members will begin to discuss how to spend revenue collected from an ambulance fund that took effect this January at its next meeting, planned for Tuesday, May 14, at 9:30 a.m. in Rockville. The fund is the result of a law passed in 2012 that allows the county to collect fees from the insurance companies of patients transported by emergency medical services (EMS). It was defeated in a 2010 voter referendum, Patch previously reported, but reintroduced and passed by the County Council. County Executive Isiah Leggett submitted a proposal to allocate 15 percent of the revenue to the Montgomery County Volunteer Fire Rescue Association, the group that runs local volunteer fire and rescue stations. If approved, about $2.…

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Costco Gas Man

5:28 pm on Tuesday, May 21, 2013

You jest, but that's most likely where It will go.   more ›

Apartment Fire Near Rockville Displaces One

Fire and rescue spokeswoman: Building evacuated due to kitchen fire Sunday afternoon.

A kitchen fire displaced the resident of a North Bethesda apartment Sunday afternoon, a Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service spokeswoman said.  Firefighters responded just after 4 p.m. for a report of a kitchen fire in an apartment in the 10200 block of Grosvenor Place, Beth Anne Nesselt, a fire and rescue service spokeswoman, wrote in an email. The first units located and extinguished the fire in the second-floor apartment kitchen. Other units helped residents to evacuate the building and cleared smoke, Nesselt wrote. No one was injured. Fire investigators ruled the fire “accidental [due to] combustibles placed too close to a heat source in the kitchen,” Nesselt wrote. The fire resulted in $40,000 in damages, including $30,000 to the…

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MCFR: Small Fire Damages Rockville Home

A bathroom fire that spread into the attic of a Rockville home caused $10,000 in damage, Montgomery County Fire and Rescue spokeswoman Beth Anne Nesselt said.

A small fire in a Rockville home Wednesday caused approximately $10,000 in damage but no injuries, reported Montgomery County Fire and Rescue spokeswoman Beth Anne Nesselt. Fire and rescue officials were dispatched to a home in the 1700 block of Farragut Avenue at 12:17 p.m. for the report of smoke in the house, Nesselt told Patch in an email. All occupants had safely exited by the time firefighters arrived, Nesselt said. The home's smoke alarm was activated and personnel on the scene quickly extinguished the fire. Nesselt said MCFR officials believe the fire started in a fan in an upstairs bathroom and spread into the home's attic. The cause is attributed to an operational deficiency in the electrical fan. No occupants of the home were …

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PHOTOS: I-270 Brush Fires

Firefighters successfully battled several brush fires Tuesday afternoon near I-270 and the Capital Beltway.

Firefighters battled several brush fires Tuesday afternoon in the wooded area near I-270 and the Capital Beltway.  Responders were called out around 1 p.m. and had successfully quelled the flames by about 3 p.m., though traffic was impacted for hours. Images of the fire were provided to Patch by www.kristinasherk.com.

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UPDATE: Brush Fires Quelled Near I-270

Fire affected wooded area near northbound I-270 and the Capital Beltway. Major traffic delays remain.

Update, 3:20 p.m.: As of 3:18 p.m., responders had significantly scaled back operations and only a few units remained on the scene. Update, 3 p.m.: The brush fires that drew heavy response and affected traffic on the Capital Beltway and I-270 have been put out, according to Montgomery County Fire and Rescue spokeswoman Beth Anne Nesselt. Responders had made "significant progress" as of 2:26 p.m., Nesselt said. About 50 firefighters remained on the scene checking for hot spots shortly after 3 p.m. Traffic was still heavily impacted and three right lanes of northbound I-270 were closed. It wasn't clear how long firefighters would remain on the scene, but it could take awhile to ensure the multiple areas that were affected by the fires were …

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Timpano Reopens Following Fire

Investigators are probing the cause of a fire that started on a loading dock Friday night.

Montgomery County First Responders Return From Sandy Rescue Mission

County police and fire/rescue personnel return from week helping Sandy victims in New York, where the situation was described as "Katrina-esque."

On Tuesday afternoon, while Montgomery County and the rest of the nation were paying attention to Election Day, 80 Montgomery County fire/rescue and police personnel unceremoniously returned home from spending an exhausting week assisting Hurricane Sandy victims in New York. The Maryland Task Force 1, made up of local medical workers, rescue experts, engineers and dog handlers with search canines, was assembled Sunday afternoon, Oct. 28, and dispatched to Fort Dix, NJ, to await orders, according to Montgomery County Assistant Chief Scott Graham. From there it was a long week of search and rescue and humanitarian relief that Graham says was similar to the situation in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. “I’ve been on the task force since …

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Montgomery County: 'Back To Normal Operations'

Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett says the county was spared significant damage from Hurricane Sandy.

Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett said the county was spared significant damage from Hurricane Sandy and the county's emergency operations and shelters would come to a close at 5 p.m. Tuesday. "News for us today is we're going back to normal operations," Leggett said from the Montgomery County Emergency Operations Center in Gaithersburg. "We fared very well compared to other locations." Approximately 10,000 Pepco customers remain without power, with numbers nearing 23,000 at the height of the storm. "Compared to previous events, that's significantly lower," Leggett said. The county executive praised Pepco for its proactive efforts in preparing for the storm. The utility service provider brought in a considerable amount of help, and …

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Car Collides With Ride On Bus On Rockville Pike

The bus was stopped at a bus stop when another vehicle crashed into it, according to a county spokeswoman.

A car collided with a Ride On bus that was stopped at a bus stop on Rockville Pike Monday morning, a county spokeswoman reports. The bus was stopped near 355 and Pooks Hill Road when another vehicle ran into the back of the bus, according to county spokeswoman Esther Bowring. The incident occurred shortly after 8:30 a.m. and minor injuries were reported, according to Assistant Chief Scott Graham, a fire and rescue spokesman. One lane on northbound Rockville Pike was getting by the accident shortly before 9 a.m., Montgomery County police reported. Ride On supervisors were investigating the accident, Bowring said.

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