By TONY KELLEHER

Tonight, as of 1900 hours (Tuesday December 6th, 2016) my tenure as the Fire Chief of the Kentland Volunteer Fire Department, Inc. came to an end. I have had the pleasure of serving in this position for the past eight consecutive years. Prior to this I served as the Deputy Chief (Chief 33A) from May of 2005 until my promotion in 2008.

It is a bittersweet moment for me to say the least. But, it is a personal decision that I have made for several reasons. Some pertaining to family commitments and others due to time commitments. I feel that I must also mention that I didn’t arrive at this decision in a negative way or for negative reasons. Quite to the contrary, I couldn’t be prouder of the members of the Kentland Volunteer Fire Department, Inc., what they stand for and what they continue to accomplish on a daily basis.

During my over 11-years as a Chief Officer, I have had the honor to work along side of some of the best firefighters that I have ever crossed paths with. Each one of them bringing value to the fire service in their own way. This is not only true with the members of the Kentland Volunteer Fire Department, but all of the surrounding departments that comprise the Prince George’s County, Maryland Career/Volunteer Fire Service.

The thing that I know I will miss the most is being able to make decisions that help improve the fire ground from a command standpoint. While looking through personal/company journals and other records, I found hundreds of incidents that I gained invaluable knowledge from. Most of this knowledge was undoubtedly from making endless mistakes and learning from them.

So, what will the future hold for me? As I’ve told all of the members of the Kentland Volunteer Fire Department, Inc., I’m a Life Member of the department and will always bleed orange. I still plan on being an active part of what makes the department continue to succeed and plan on doing what I can to produce good firefighters.

I wish I could thank every person that helped make my time as the Chief of Kentland a memorable one. If I could produce this list, it would take hours to read.

Lastly, I want to congratulate Roger Steger (one of my two Deputy Chiefs, Pat Mann being the other) as he takes over as the new Fire Chief. I wish him all of the best and will be here for him in his new position.

Thank you for everything,

Tony Kelleher
Life Member
Kentland Volunteer Fire Department, Inc.