Prince George’s County firefighters are facing a staffing shortage and are calling on county leaders to do something about it.

According to DC News Now, The long shifts are taking a toll on their mental health and social lives, and they are also being required to work big events at the National Harbor and FedEx Field, leaving them with fewer firefighters to respond to other emergencies.

Grant Walker, Vice President of the Prince George’s County Professional Firefighters and Paramedics Association says, “When Prince George’s County is running more calls than ever before in its history, and we have less firefighters to run those calls. It becomes very difficult for our firefighters.”

The union is asking county leaders to expedite the hiring process so they can get more firefighters, as they need nearly 250 to be in a comfortable position.

“While Prince George’s County has taken a number of steps to improve their hiring process, we’re still based in a very governmental system that moves in a very stepwise motion, instead of condensing our hiring process into a shorter timeframe so that they get the most qualified candidates as soon as possible into our ranks,” Walker mentions.

County leaders have not yet responded to the request.