WASHINGTON — The man picked to be the next leader of the Prince George’s County Fire/EMS has wanted the job since he was 8 years old.
Deputy Chief Ben Barksdale will become interim chief upon the retirement of Chief Marc Bashoor in March, County Executive Rushern Baker announced Friday.
Barksdale’s appointment as chief will then depend on county council approval.
Staffing is one departmental challenge Barksdale said he hopes to address.
“We still don’t staff our stations like the rest of the region,” Barksdale said. If, for example, there are only four firefighters in a station and they go out on a call on one rig — additional apparatus in the fire house would sit idle.
“So, whether it’s volunteer or career, we still need more bodies,” he said.
Barksdale started out as a teen volunteer. Originally from West Virginia, Barksdale remembered asking his mother what the siren was that sounded in the countryside near his home when he was 8 years old. “She said, ‘That’s the volunteer siren. They blow that when they want people to come and help,’” Barksdale said.
He knew then that he wanted to be a firefighter. “I told my mom, when I turn 16 [the allowable age], I’m going to join,” he said.
And he did.
About a month after turning 16, Barksdale started a seven-year stint with the Spelter Volunteer Fire Department.
After college, Barksdale joined the Arlington County Fire Department, where he rose through the ranks to be No. 2 in command. He was a battalion chief there during the 9/11 terror attack and responded to the Pentagon.
Then, Barksdale said, Bashoor called in 2011 and asked whether he was interested in joining the Prince George’s Department to eventually — hopefully — assume the top spot upon Bashoor’s retirement.
“My goal was always to be a fire chief,” Barksdale said. But he never aspired to do so in any one particular department.
Barksdale has lived in Prince George’s County for decades. He resisted moving to help advance his career because he didn’t want to disrupt his daughter’s life at a critical time during her teen years.
Now, his daughter is a sophomore in college and Barksdale has the real potential of becoming the county fire chief in a place he’s called home for 27 years.
“It’s awesome,” Barksdale said. “It’s an awesome blessing, absolutely.”
His goal is to deliver quality service with well-trained staff. One initial focus will be figuring out how to recruit more volunteers and hire more professionals.
“The people we serve don’t care whether we’re career or volunteer,” Barksdale said. “They just want someone to come when they call and make their problem go away.”
