Montgomery County’s fire chief Friday exhorted residents to stay home during what some forecasters say will be the heaviest snowfall to hit the region in a decade.

The National Weather Service predicted total accumulation of 6-13 inches for Silver Spring.

“You are the first first responders. We can’t do this without you,” Chief Corey Smedley said during a county news conference.

“If it’s not an emergency, don’t go out. Let us do our job — stay home.”

County Executive Marc Elrich is likely to declare a snow emergency Saturday. That would allow changes to parking rules so plows can clear roads more efficiently, said Earl Stoddard, who oversees emergency departments for the county.

Snow clearing could take days, Stoddard said. That and the price of emergency responses will probably exceed the $10 million budgeted for storms this winter, he added.

The county, responsible for 5,500 miles of roads, owns 275 plow trucks and can stretch the fleet to 400 if it presses construction equipment into service, said Luke Hodgson, director of the county’s Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security.

It stores about 50,000 tons of salt to treat roads at the transportation department’s Rockville barn. County workers have begun pre-treating primary roads with salt brine — a mixture of 23% salt and water — and spreading salt rock and magnesium on sidewalks.

Pre-treatment of neighborhood streets will begin on Saturday. Plowing begins on primary roads when snowfall reaches three inches. Once it stops snowing and primary streets are clear, the county begins plowing neighborhood streets.

State roads within the county, such as Rockville Pike, stretch another 1,500 miles. Municipalities, including Gaithersburg, Rockville and Takoma Park, cover another 800 miles.

“We have plenty of salt, salt brine and liquid magnesium” for pavement temperatures 20 degrees or lower, Danny Allman, spokesperson for the Maryland State Highway Administration, said in a statement.

County officials encourage residents to visit this portal to check the status of snow removal on their streets.

Montgomery County schools, at least on Monday, won’t have to figure out whether to shut down — students are already off so teachers can work on end-of-term grading and planning.

Look out for yourself and your neighbors

Elrich this week asked residents to check on neighbors, especially older people, and to stock up on necessities.

A spokesperson for the Montgomery County Coalition for the Homeless said its Gaithersburg location has stocked its food pantry for up to 57 formerly unhoused families who may need shelter. Its men’s shelter in Rockville will allow overnight clients to stay all day.

Residents worried about people who appear to lack shelter can call the County Department of Health and Human Services’ 24-hour Crisis Line at 240-907-2688.

Sign up to receive emergency alerts from the county here.

The county’s weekly Spanish-language radio broadcast on Friday focused on storm preparedness. It can be heard on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music.

Although forecasters predict a punishing storm, it is not expected to approach the accumulation of 2016, when more than 35 inches of snow fell in parts of the county over two days in January.

Two sleds

As county and state officials scrambled, Eric Pahon stopped by an Ace Hardware in Silver Spring to make his own preparations — a purchase of two sleds.

He thought his wife might give him grief about the second sled, given that they have one child, a 2-year-old.

“One is for the kid, and one is for me,” Pahon said. “Because why does the kid get to have all the fun?”

Store manager Ashley McDaniel was trying to keep the sleds in stock. Ace has sold about 100 in the past few days. Ice melt is also going fast. The store ran out of shovels, but a new shipment was expected Friday.

Talia Richman and Jack Hogan contributed to this story.