‘It Wakes Me Up at Night': Maryland Fire Department Volunteers Collecting Water for Flint

A fire department volunteer is trying to collect water to send to Flint, Mich., where the water supply was contaminated with lead

When a volunteer emergency medical technician in Prince George's County, Maryland, saw heart-wrenching images of people in Flint, Michigan, where the water supply was contaminated by lead, she knew she wanted to help.

"It wakes me up at night," Elisa Miller said. "[I would wake up] with dreams of babies not having the water that they need. The elderly, the ones that's on medication." 

Miller, along with a group of volunteer firefighters, is trying to collect a tractor-trailer load of bottled water to send to Flint. But News4's Jackie Bensen reports word has been slow to trickle out.

"It's really heartbreaking to know that they are, that the Flint, Michigan residents are suffering in that way and that's one of the reasons why I decided to do this," Miller said.

Just two cases of water have been donated to the Branchville Volunteer Fire Department in College Park as of Thursday afternoon. The county is asking residents to donate as much bottled water as they can.

The locations accepting water bottle donations are:

  • Branchville: 4905 Branchville Rd., College Park
  • Chillum-Adelphi: 7833 Riggs Rd., Langley Park
  • Kettering-Largo: 10400 Campus Way South, Upper Marlboro
  • Glenn Dale: 11900 Glenn Dale Blvd., Glenn Dale
  • Riverdale: 5004 Queensbury Road, Riverdale

Donations can be left by the door if firefighters are busy responding to a call, fire officials said. Miller hopes to have a truck filled with water by March 20.

Contact Us