Joseph Herr, 55, of Ellicott City, head of Howard County’s Department of Fire and Rescue Services, is retiring March 1, after serving as fire chief since December 2000.
He began his career as a firefighter in 1971 with the Beltsville Volunteer Fire Department and served with the District of Columbia’s Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department for 26 years.
Herr spoke to The Examiner about his decades of service.
What’s one of the oddest and most memorable scenes to which you’ve responded?
The oddest since I’ve been in Howard County was when a gasoline tank truck went off Interstate 895 and landed on the northbound lanes of Interstate 95. … It burned up two tractor-trailers, a taxi cab and another vehicle and there were multiple fatalities. The scary part is that it wasn’t too far after 9/11. And you had to wonder if this was intentional. It turned out that it was an accident. The driver had some kind of medical condition that rendered him incapable of driving. Had it happened prior to 9/11, you would have thought right away that it was just another bad accident.
What scenes are hardest to cope with?
The hardest scenes are probably firefighter fatalities. … The other is when children die and when there are multiple fatalities. We’ve been extremely fortunate. … We’ve had injuries, but the people were treated and released.
What will you miss about your job?
I’ll miss the people. … I’ve been developing a working relationship with people throughout [Howard] County government. I’ll miss the firefighters, paramedics and people in the stations. If I had my way, I’d always be out of the office [and] in the station environment. It’s very relaxing and easy for me as a firefighter.
You’ve joked that you’ll finally be able to sleep without your BlackBerry by your side. So, what’s next for you?
I’ll probably go to Florida and take at least a month off. In the position I’m in, you’re never really off. I don’t care where I was, I’d be coming back to Howard County. If there was a major incident, I’d tell people to call me. They’d say, ‘I don’t want to wake your wife.’ But she understands — It comes with the territory.
