Leaving the old home

It only took one organized meeting of 21 area residents on April 29, 1942, to lay the groundwork that would create a small group of volunteer responders in the town of Elkridge, a proud community nestled in the Patapsco River Valley in Howard County. By Feb. 15, 1943, in a newly constructed home on Old Washington Road, Station 1 — the Elkridge Volunteer Fire Department — was fully incorporated, under the command of Chief Edward Falter.

The Elkridge V.F.D. became the town’s unofficial social hub, where friends and family gathered to chat, play Bingo or celebrate a wedding, and where young and old volunteers hustled to respond to the station for a call. The town’s first fire engine was a 1934 Brockway named “Daisy.”

Elkridge has grown dramatically over the last 75 years and with newer, bigger trucks the department has outgrown its firehouse. This week saw the final call from the Washington Road station. Today’s dedication of the new, sevenacre station off Montgomery Road is where volunteers will now share space with career firefighters.

“It’s gonna hurt driving past this firehouse, but it’s time” says volunteer John Merson as he packs away merchandise for the move, while a light snow falls in the twilight. The native Elkridge resident first volunteered in 1986 and is the third generation of his family who have served the community every day since it first opened. “It’s gonna hurt seeing it go, but it has to go. We’ve outgrown this place.”

With two bays vacant, boots remain beside Engine 11 after responders rode Rescue Squad One to a call, while Paramedic Ambulance 15, with its emergency lights flashing, returns from a medical call during the final days of the Elkridge Volunteer Fire...

As a third-generation member of the Merson family to serve in the department, volunteer John Merson retrieves an image of the original, single-story engine bay.