In Md. and Va., Long Haul Becoming Part of the Job

Most teachers in Fairfax and Montgomery counties live in the jurisdiction in which they work. But Rick Baumgartner, president of the Fairfax Education Association, said the county is losing potential applicants because of the cost of living. And many who are hired leave within a few years, he said, because the area is so pricey.

Affordability is not the only explanation why so many live far from work. One reason for the growing number of marathon commuters is that public safety departments have widened their recruiting nets to fill jobs that turn over more quickly than they used to and to meet affirmative-action goals. Nick Venuto, a recently retired Montgomery County firefighter who supervised two surveys of union firefighters, said many new hires recruited from Pennsylvania or other far-flung places prefer staying in their home communities.

Ritchie and Kight drive in together to Burke from Western Maryland, along with a third long-distance firefighter they drop off at a station in Chantilly. Kight has driven this route for more than 16 years, and he recruited Ritchie nine years ago.

Their drive to work takes 2 1/2 hours, and they leave at 3 a.m. Any later and they would hit too much traffic. They usually get to work well before they are due, which means the previous shift can leave early. They come in even further in advance if snow is forecast.

Kight and Ritchie's long commute, and carpool arrangement, means they cannot swap shifts as easily as someone who lives close by. Before he had Ritchie to carpool with, Kight did not take classes on his own time that could get him a promotion. And once in a while, they are so weary they call their wives and say they are not driving home that day.

"We give up a lot to come here," said Ritchie, 31, an apparatus technician, "but it works out."

It doesn't work out for everyone. Two members of Company 14 quit in the past year, Harris said, in part because of grueling commutes. One was an 11-year lieutenant who lived in Virginia's Northern Neck, east of Fredericksburg. The second was a recruit who decided after a few months that she was unwilling to make the 2 1/2 -hour drive each way between Burke and her home in Delaware.

Harris has no criticism of firefighters who live outside the county and said it has not hurt response time.

One benefit of having trained personnel making long commutes is that they can offer emergency help on the road. The Western Maryland carpoolers say they have stopped at several accidents during their commuting years to lend their skills.

To some, that only underscores what communities are missing. Bader noted that if more officers lived in the counties they work in, the taxpayers who employ them would be safer. With more than 125 Montgomery County police officers living in Frederick County, he said, "those people up there are well protected by trained Montgomery County police officers."