OCEAN PINES – Members of the Ocean Pines Volunteer Fire Department are inviting community members of all ages to participate in an open house later this month.
On Saturday, April 23, the Ocean Pines Volunteer Fire Company (OPVFD) will host an open house and recruitment event at its South Station, located at 911 Ocean Parkway.
The event, which runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., will feature a variety of activities, including a Maryland State Police (MSP) aviation demonstration, games, a coloring contest and opportunities to tour fire trucks and the MSP Trooper 4 helicopter.
“This is a great opportunity for kids, families, and adults to see some of the state-of-the-art vehicles and tools that our members are trained to operate firsthand via live demos as well as interact with the first responders who are always on call, ready, and waiting to assist the community,” said Lt. Joe Enste, community outreach specialist for OPVFD. “Additionally, this will be a unique chance to see Maryland State Police Aviation conduct a hoist demo with Trooper 4 over the South Gate pond and tour the helicopter once it lands.”
Officials say the department will also have opportunities for the community to learn more about volunteering.
“We want additional volunteers because our emergency responses are up and there are more jobs to do – creating more opportunities to volunteer,” Enste said. “We have a great team and are working to build a bigger, better team.”
Enste noted the OPVFD is a combination department, meaning it is comprised of both career and volunteer members.
“We have found that most residents do not realize that volunteers are a large part of our department,” he said, “and we felt that this open house was a great opportunity to not only educate the community but also share more about volunteering with our department.”
Enste said volunteer opportunities include firefighters, EMTs, fire police, fire cadets – a youth program – and administrative members. Volunteers are not required to have any prior experience to join, and the department provides free professionally accredited training to all members.
Officials encouraged everyone to come out and participate in the open house.
“We recognized that with the world opening back up, it was time to open our doors and invite the community back to the fire station,” Enste said. “While we have received tremendous support from the community over the last two years, we know that there are many new faces to the area that we would like to meet and educate about the services our department provides, the volunteer opportunities available and how, with their help, we can continue to reduce risks in our community.”
