The Kentland Volunteer Fire Department was founded in 1951 by Bob Baeschlin and John Wilding when it was decided that there was not adequate fire protection for this, at the time, rural area minutes from Washington DC. Bob called ten neighbors to his house one night and decided they would start a volunteer fire department to protect their homes. Although each new fire department in Prince George's County, Maryland gets the proceeding number from the last established department, Bob fought for the # 33 for the department after Station 32 was taken in front of the county council. 33 was the number of Bob's favorite football player Sammy Baugh who played for the Washington Redskins, the team coincidently now playing in Landover, down the street from today's firehouse. After Bob and fellow volunteer fireman Steve Yuhasz put there houses up for mortgage they purchased a 1941 World War I surplus Ford pumper from the Silver Hill Fire Dept. to serve as Kentland 33's first piece of apparatus. The engine was kept at Bob's house on East Inwood Street where people would call to report a fire, and Bob would crank up the siren to tell all the volunteers in the community there was a call. KVFD was now on its way to becoming one of the best fire departments in the world.

Kentland through the years has not by any means gone without setbacks. The department averaging over 500 calls a year from the beginning responded to primarily brush fire calls, one of which the pride of the young department (the original 1941 pumper) flipped over in route. Walter Shea became the first Kentland Volunteer Fireman to be injured in the line of duty. Miraculously he was not hurt seriously and nor has anyone else in the history of Kentland.

Not giving up, the department reacted in a way that established a standard for the following generations. They raised what little money they could and bought a 1926 American LaFrance pumper from the city of Hyattsville for $100. It featured a right-hand, chain power drive; something like what you would see on a bicycle today. Ever since then, the Kentland Volunteer Fire Department has followed the simple value of "Always do whatever is necessary to get a fire truck, with firemen ready to do a job, to the fireground." The small town of Kentland grew in the 1950's and the department grew with it. The West Brothers Brick Company donated land on old 76th Avenue, now The Mt. Zion Church on Kent Village Drive, for KVFD to build itself a much-needed station house. The department did not have any kind of budget or account at the time so it relied on donations and newspaper collections to save up enough money to build the first Kentland firehouse. After using up all of their funds building the new firehouse, some of the firemen of 33 again took mortgages out on their homes to finance the purchase of a new fire engine. The outdated chain driven pumper had to be replaced by this time so the department purchased its first new pumper: a $50,000 1953 Seagrave.

By this time this rural area had begun to flourish into the metropolis it is today. Apartment complexes, townhouses, and multi/single family homes were being constructed everywhere in the area bringing a need for even more progress in the fire department. In 1959 The Kentland Volunteer Fire Department opened a new station on Rt. 202 Landover Road which is where Engine 33 Tower is still housed today. As the population of the area multiplied there was need for another Seagrave which was purchased in 1955 for $50,000. This purchase was funded by the new greatly needed ad valorem fire tax implemented by the people of Prince George's County to pay for fire protection.

The department also went onto establish a new communications system. They purchased their first two-way radios to communicate in-route to and operate on a fireground. The Kentland Vol. Fire Dept. also installed a direct line in the firehouse connected to the North and South Side Prince George's County Dispatch Centers in Capital Heights and Hyattsville. Now, instead of getting calls via "party line" telephone, KVFD was part of the first direct line communications dispatch jurisdiction in the country. The department did not stop at this. They also went on to buy another new pumper prior to hosting the 1959 convention of the County Firemen's Association. The 1960's brought even more development of the community requiring just as much need for more FIRE/EMS service to the public. Two 1963 Seagrave pumpers replaced the older pumpers and a new ambulance was purchased. This did not satisfy the members of the department though. The Kentland volunteers wanted to be the forerunners of a new generation, so they purchased one of the first three "snorkels" in the country. The three-boom, basket however did not go as planned for KVFD.

It saved many lives, but was plagued with problems and lacked the modern ladder truck technology of today so the department got rid of it. As the '60's came to an end the department began to take on the role of urban status. During the Washington, DC riots of 1968 The Kentland Volunteer Fire Department became the command post for the Prince George's County Fire Departments as they planned to deal with the chaos and damage of spillover rioting. The department also responded to brush fires in Anne Arundel County, Maryland indicating the diverse service that the department provided then and now.

The tremendous growth east of Kentland made construction of a second station absolutely essential. In 1970, the department built and placed in service its Company 2 or more commonly known as station 46. Located in Largo, the station was staffed by several volunteers from the new subdivision of Kettering. This required more than a building and new volunteers, it also required two more pumpers to be purchased increasing the Kentland Vol. Fire Dept. apparatus fleet to four. The most difficult problem the department was encountering at this point was not the increased populations nor was it the new company. It was the change in membership due to age as well as volunteers leaving the area. Another aspect facing the evolving department was the change in the County's fire service system. Unwelcomed by most, the county government started taking over control of most of the funding and increasingly over components of the firefighting operations.

Many believed that the change in membership and the change in the system would lead to the elimination of most volunteer fire departments, Kentland included. Kentland seemed particularly vulnerable because the community had changed so much; the aging of the department had deprived it of expertise and experience; and Kentland's history of an independent spirit seemed most threatened by the new county bureaucracy and the loss of funding control.

Those who predicted Kentland's demise did not understand what the founders had done. They had passed on to a new generation the belief that The Kentland Volunteer Fire Department was something special and that its unique greatness would continue to prevail no matter what the surrounding circumstances. The new generation of members, many sons of the original firefighters or friends who had virtually grown up in the department toughed out a few years without money placing emphasis on firefighting performance. Kentland 33 was now running well over 1,000 engine and no company in The County of Prince George ran more working fires. The respect that had once been earned in part by physical things like new stations and who had the shiniest new fire truck was now earned by uncommon, hard working, fireground action. As the 70's moved into the 80's the department began to venture back into success financially. Bob Baeschlin returned as President to lead the way with new fund raising ideas. In 1975 Kentland Station 33 purchased a Dodge mini-pumper. This gave the department the ability of sending only two firefighters on minor calls, while still maintaining at least one crew to staff the engine in the case of a fire being dispatched simultaneously with or after a one station assigned response call.

The winter of 1978 brought on more than just a blizzard. As the snow fell several hundred people converged on the Dodge Park Shopping Center across the street from the firehouse and began looting stores. Kentland's bravest responded swiftly and covered the entrances to the stores with water allowing the Prince George's County Police Dept. to respond to the scene. Once again KVFD was recognized for its diverse service to the community.

In 1980, the department purchased two new pumpers and then a third in 1982. Then in 1985 one of the old pumpers was completely refurbished. Thus, in just five years KVFD had rebuilt its entire apparatus fleet and not at a better time. Station 33 on Landover Rd. was running over 2,500 calls per year and station 46 in Largo, with intensive development in its first due area was up to over 1,000 incidents for the year between the engine and the ambulance.

This original fire department of 10 men by 1987 had run 4,194 calls. Still unsatisfied with its capabilities and service to this increasingly urban neighborhood, the firefighters noted that ladder truck companies did not adequately service Kentland and Station 33 was an ideal location to house one. However, some of the department's leadership was skeptical and saw all of the dangers involved saying that its cost was too expensive and the volunteers would burn out from too many calls. The majority of members disagreed though. They claimed that for $35,000 the department could buy a used ladder truck and then equip it for service for an additional $30,000 and it would bring even more volunteers to the firehouse door. Cost was not a problem for the bravest volunteers in the world nor was responding to more calls than any other volunteer fire department in the country, so Kentland bought the truck.

In a scene reminiscent of the founding forefathers, the Kentland firefighters all contributed and made the necessary repairs to the ladder truck. Membership; it was higher than it was for years and so were the number of calls. In 1988 Kentland Station 33 ran 5,201 calls and the still young station 46 was catching up rather quickly with a total of 2,400 engine and ambulance calls. Indeed, as the Largo area develops even further, the future of Company 46 looks to be as bright and busy as station 33.

Yes, Kentland has changed in many ways throughout the years. But through the hard times of over forty years, the special vision of service -- 'fiercely independent and innovative' -- set forth around the dinner table of one man's home has remained the driving force of the Kentland Volunteer Fire Department.