At 6:44 am on Tuesday, August 11, 2026, the Chestertown Volunteer Fire Company was dispatched to the 13300 block of Fishing Valley Road, near Betterton for the structure fire. The initial 9-1-1 call was received by Baltimore County 9-1-1 (directly across the Chesapeake Bay) and was sketchy at best. Unfortunately, Cellular service here is spotty and unreliable. Only limited information was garnered before the call dropped, with dispatcher call-back unsuccessful. The 9-1-1 caller was reporting a large house on fire. However, as dispatchers are trained to get the location of an incident first (just because of situations like this) Kent Central immediately dispatched the fire incident.
This part of Kent County is remote and extremely rugged. Fishing Valley (the entire area where this is located) is notorious for its limited access, tight maneuvering for oversized vehicles, and narrow, unimproved roads. Incidents there, like this one, present the local fire service with challenges. One of the biggest challenges is an adequate water supply. The bay, though very close, is not accessible (for large equipment) because of a high bluff. A tanker shuttle is difficult, and sometimes impossible, because of the limited access and tight maneuvering. In this instance, we were able to make the tanker shuttle work.
After dropping their crew at the intersection of Fishing Valley Road & Still Pond Neck Road (our crew walked in, estimated distance approximately 500 yards) Squad 6 continued to the old Coast Guard Station site, which is just above sea level. There, the draft was established. Squad 6 was driver-only at that point, but he recruited Chief 8 (Kent & Queen Annes Rescue Squad) accompany and lend a hand. The hard sleeve “suction” hoses used are heavy and unwieldy. (The draft refers to dropping a hose into a body of water, such as the bay… as in this case, rivers, creeks, even swimming pools if accessible, and drawing it out.) Squad 6 proceeded to fill the tankers as they came down, which then shuttled back to the water supply “drop” point.)
As it turned out, this fire involved a large house in the very early stages of construction. It’s believed the fire was started by lightning. The Maryland State Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating.
This was a week - day fire, at the beginning of the work - day. From the aspect of staffing, this is one of most difficult times for the volunteer fire service to get manpower. Today, most employers are not sympathetic to the needs of the volunteer fire service. In order to receive adequate manpower and staffing needs, resources were summoned from Cecil County, Queen Annes County, New Castle County, Delaware, and Kent County, Delaware.
(Photograph ... Chestertown VFC Squad 6 at the draft site. Some may wonder why the deck gun is in operation. To maintain the "prime", i.e., not lose the draft, a constant flow of water must be maintained. If not, should there be a period where tankers are not being filled, the pump action will gradually heat the water trapped in the pump. It can become so hot it can warp the pump impeller, damaging the pump. This is prevented by always keeping a flow of water through the pump.)
