By Eli Segall

Special to The Sentinel

I n ice hockey, most people agree that it takes a while for a new team to play well together. Last weekend, the Hyattsville Volunteer Fire Department's hockey club learned this first hand.

The newly formed squad entered its first tournament and lost all three of its games.

"It would have been nice to win at least one," said Sgt. Matt Leonard.

However, given the reason his team entered the tournament, Leonard wasn't too glum. "It's all for charity anyways."

From April 4-6, the Hyattsville Volunteer Fire Department played in the Fourth Annual D.C. Firefighters Burn Foundation Charity Hockey Tournament. Held at The Gardens Ice House in Laurel, the contest featured 16 teams of police officers and fire fighters from around the country, including three teams of D.C. fire fighters and a fast-skating U.S. Secret Service team.

The tournament raised money for the Burn Foundation, a non-profit group that helps injured firefighters and burn victims in the Washington area.

Jeff Kraus, the Hyattsville team captain, formed the squad two months ago after he learned of the tournament while surfing the Internet. Hyattsville's players have roughly four to six years of playing experience each, he said.

Kraus, 19, said the sport is similar to firefighting because "everyone's working hard out there, everyone's out there to win."

Asked which has a greater risk of injury, he said: "I try not to think about that stuff. If it happens, it happens."

While the players are technically "volunteer" firemen, their lives revolve around the department. Several members of the hockey team live in the firehouse on Belcrest Road in a barracks-style bunkroom on the second floor, and they're almost always on duty.

The firehouse residents do not pay rent or utility bills but are required to work at least four 14-hour shifts a week. In addition, they need to maintain a full-time job or attend school full-time on the side. Half of the 30-member department lives in the bunkroom, which is decorated with racy posters and charred memorabilia pulled from fires.

Their shifts are packed with action; Leonard said the department receives roughly 5,000 calls for service a year.

"They have a pretty busy call volume," said Mark Brady, a spokesman for the Prince George's County Fire/EMS Department. The Hyattsville fire department is a unit of the county's.

Still, like other fire stations, there is some downtime. On a recent Thursday night the firefighters devoured baked ziti and salad, watched a Washington Capitals game and played with the firehouse dog, an asthmatic mutt named Chilie.

Despite their busy schedule and the harrowing moments that come with it, the firemen, who describe each other as family, all say they want to be full-time firefighters one day.

Their devotion to the job also means that, for those still in school, their college years are spent riding around Hyattsville in a fire truck, not knowing if they have to run into a burning building.

Kraus, a marketing major at University of Maryland, University College, said the sacrifice is well worth it.

"I may be missing out on the college experience, but I'm getting another experience here, which is definitely better," he said by telephone at 7:30 a.m. Sunday, an hour before the team's last game in the tournament.

"I hate to cut you off," he told a reporter, "but I've got to get ready for our game."

A few hours later the firemen lost, 7-1.

Maybe next year.

Photo by Marketa Ebert