Evening star., 1951-11-22
|Takoma Park Firemen
Refuse Rescue Call on
BoyB|ock Outside City

BoyBIock kOutsIdeC City
A rescue call involving the
shooting of a 10-year-old boy, who
later died, was rejected by the
Takoma Park Fire Department
because the request came from a
home one block outside the city
limits.
Fire Chief NJ. E. Mcbride ex-
planned yesterday the department
was unable to respond because a
City Council order. adopted Oc-
tober % and effective last Thurs
day, prohibited firemen from going
outside the city limits, with GER
tain exceptions.
| The victim of the shooting.
Lawrance A. Elswick. who was
visiting at 6S01 Belford drive
from Harmon. Va. was taken by
the Brentwood Rescue Squad to
Leland Memorial Hospital. River
dale, where he was pronounced
dead Tuesday.
Outlines Procedure.
According to Chief Mcbride
this is what happened after the
Takoma Park Department re-
ceived the call from the Silver
Spring Fire Board at 400 pm:
'We Immediately notified the
fire board that the call was out
side the city limits and the board
then called the Prince Georges
County Fire Board.
"At 4:10 pm. the Prince Georges
board announced over the air that
Brentwood was responding and al
4:21 pm. Brentwood notified the
fire board that it had arrived or
the scene"
Hospital officials said the boy
arrived there at 4::30 pm.
Saving of Life Doubted.
The Belford drive home is about
$40 of a mile from the Takoma
Park firehouse and about 3 miles
from the Brentwood department
| Chief Mcbride said his rescue
squad could have been on the
scene in less than three minutes.
DR.. John T. Maloney. Prince
Georges County medical examiner,
said he did not believe the boys
life could have been saved even
if he had been taken to the hos
pital sooner.
The physician said the boy suf-
fered severe internal bleeding
when shotgun pellets fired into
his stomach at close range severed
an artery leading to the kidneys.
Takoma Park Mayor Ross Beville
said Chief Mcbride was following
the councils order correctly.
Fire Tax Rejected.
81 am sorry the boy died but
there was nothing we could do
under the circumstances" the
Mayor asserted.
He explained the councils action
lstemmed from the refusal of resi-
dents of the Chillum district of
Prince Georges county adjacent to
Takoma Park to approve a pro-
posed 10-cent fire tax in a referen-
dunn last month. Some of the
proceeds of the levy would have
gone to Takoma Park.
At present, these residents pay
a general 2-cent fire tax to Prince
Georges County and the proceeds
go only to the Prince Georges
fire companies in nearby COM
munities which serve that area.
Following the councils action.
Mayor Beville said. ''the city OF
Takoma Park could accept no
further responsibility in the area
outside Of the city which pays no
fire tax to it,
Substitute Agreement Sought.
He said the department will
answer such calls only if called
by another department under a
mutual-aid agreement or if there
is a civilian defense emergency
Meanwhile. mayors of surround
ing Prince Georges County towns
are trying to arrive at an agree
ment with the Chillum residents
on a substitute for the proposal
which was defeated.
Mayor Herbert w. Reichelt OF
Mount Rainier said he and mayors
of nearby towns would redouble
their efforts to reach a solution
to the problem as soon as possible
in view Of Tuesdays incident.
II hope the death of that boy
will help make the people OF
Chillum realize an emergency
exists and make them more CO.
operative in this matter" he said.
Arundel Moves 10 Set Up