CUMBERLAND – September 7, 2026

Senator Mike McKay earned the endorsement of the Allegany County Fire Police in his bid for re-election to the Maryland Senate.

Fire police are the people standing in the road at two in the morning in the rain, in a reflective vest, keeping traffic off a wreck so the medics can work. Most of them are volunteers. Nearly all of them are somebody’s neighbor, and most people driving past never learn their names.

“Fire police get the cold, the rain, and the traffic, and they show up anyway,” McKay said. “Somebody has to make that scene safe before anybody else can do their job. That somebody is usually a volunteer who left his own dinner table to be there.”

McKay serves as Chairman of the Fire and EMS Coalition. In April he pushed volunteer companies across Allegany, Garrett, and Washington Counties to get their applications in for $10,000 Good Neighbor Firefighter Safety Program grants, which cover protective equipment, radios, and rescue tools. In December he secured $100,000 for the Oakland Volunteer Fire Department for facility repairs and new equipment. This August he delivered a $50,000 check to the Flintstone Fire Department and a Local Bond Initiative check to the Ellerslie Volunteer Fire Company.

“Western Maryland runs on people who volunteer for the worst night of somebody else’s life,” McKay said. “When Annapolis writes a budget, my job is making sure they are not the line item that gets forgotten.”

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