Cape St. Claire Volunteer Fire Company Serves our Community

At a meeting held back in March of 1955, residents of the Broadneck peninsula met at the Cape St. Claire clubhouse and voted to create what is now the (CSCVFC). A few months later, the CSCVFC bought its first piece of fire fighting equipment, a 1936 Chevrolet fire engine.

Located within Cape St. Claire, the CSCVFC serves much of the Broadneck peninsula, from Bay Dale Drive to the Bay Bridge, including all those travelers who use both sides of Rt. 50. Their service area is approximately 64 square miles and consists of more than 25,000 residents. 

The CSCVFC is unique because it is a “combination” fire department in Anne Arundel County, which means that they have 28 volunteers, supplemented by four 24-hour shift career personnel. The Anne Arundel County Fire Department is one of the largest "combination" fire departments in the nation. 

The volunteers are a dedicated group who train together twice a month, and volunteer their services several nights a week and on some weekends. Last month, the volunteers had four of their members graduate from EMT school.  

Most of the volunteers live all around Anne Arundel County, but many are Cape St. Claire residents. Many of the volunteers are family members. The CSCVFC has husband and wife volunteers, and even a mother-father-daughter set of volunteers. Volunteers range in age from 16 to those in their 70s. And the jobs they do outside of their volunteer work range from lawn care to law enforcement.   

They are always recruiting new volunteers for all aspects of service including; fire fighting, as well as administrative duties. You don’t need to be a fire fighter to volunteer!

The CSCVFC currently owns two fire engines which have been paid for by contributions made by the community. One is a pumper tanker which holds 2,500 gallons of water and allows for about 12 minutes of water power for fire fighting. 

The second, smaller one holds 1,000 gallons and provides about five minutes of water. Having enough water to fight fires is critical because we live in a community that does not have fire hydrants, so the fire fighters must bring the water with them when they respond. 

On August 2, the CSCVFC will hold a fundraising event at the from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. to help generate funds for a new pumper tanker. There will be a raffle, other events, and the restaurant is generously donating some of its proceeds that evening to the CSCVFC. 

A new pumper tanker costs more than $500,000, and should last for 20 years, so fundraising is critical to their mission. 

While 80% of their service calls are medical related, the CSCVFC will respond to anything from boat accidents, to significantly flooded basements, to gas leaks, to the proverbially cat-in-a-tree.  

Chief Drew Mutch said, “We are here if people need us. All the training and other things we do are secondary. Helping people comes first.”

But if you need the fire department, can they find you? It can often be difficult to find house numbers on homes in the Cape because many of the house numbers are not sequential or not well-marked. 

Consider having the CSCVFC install a heavy weight aluminum reflective house number on your mailbox stand for the nominal price of $20.    

As Chief Mutch said, “If your house is on fire, we can find you. But if your wife or mother is having a medical emergency, every minute counts.” 

You can find more about information about this service at the CSCVFC’s website at:  http://www.cscvfc.org.

Having our very own volunteer fire department is just another example of what makes Cape St. Claire such a great place to live. Thank you to all the volunteers who keep our community safe.