Retiring Stafford fire chief on Thursday’s fire outbreak, and the future of the department he’s leaving behind

STAFFORD — Fire and high winds kept fire crews in Stafford County busy Thursday.

“We got our asses handed to us yesterday,” said Stafford County Fire Chief Mark Lockhart.

It started at 1:19 p.m. with a house fire at 75 Shelton Shop Road. Crews were called to a single family home located near fire station 14, where flames had quickly spread from a garage into the home.

Sustained wind gusts fanned the flames, which eventually spread to the surrounding wooded areas around the house causing a brush fire.

Fire crews from Stafford and Prince William counties, as well as Quantico Marine Corps Base were called to control the blaze and eventually extinguish it. Both occupants of the house escaped without injury.

While a fire investigation is ongoing, it’s believed one of the home’s occupants was working on a car in a garage when the fire started. A portion of Shelton Shop Road was closed while fire crews doused the blaze.

At the same time, a large brush fire sprang up outside of a Burger King about 20 miles away on Route 3 in the southeastern part of the county, across the Rappahannock River from Fredericksburg.

Stafford County dispatched its crews to the call that by this point were already spread thin. Additional crews from Fredericksburg and Prince William County were also sent to the Route 3 fire.

Several outdoor sheds were damaged in the blaze that is believed to have been accidentally started by men working on a nearby railroad.

The busy day for firefighters came after the National Weather Service issued a Red Flag Warning, noting hazardous weather conditions that made it favorable for brush fires. Stafford County had already issued a warning to its residents not to do any outdoor burning on Thursday, which included “hot work” like welding.

Stafford County operates a combination career and volunteer fire and rescue system. An all-call was made to the county’s volunteers on Thursday asking anyone that could to go to their respective volunteer stations to backfill career potions in an effort to provide additional support.

“I am thankful every damn day for our volunteers, and I’m glad they showed up,” said Lockhart.

Thursday’s wind-driven fires were the latest in a series of events that has stretched the fire department in recent months. Fire crews were again swarmed with calls during the major windstorm to hit the region on March 1 and 2. With downed trees on homes and causing rampant power outages in the area, The department received more than 250 calls in 24 hours — more than a 400% increase when compared to the department’s regular 24-hour call volume.

These incidents highlight the need to hire and retain more career firefighters, as well as recruit more volunteers willing to serve nights and weekends to protect their neighborhoods.

“We can’t predict this stuff,” said Lockhart. “It’s not like we can look into a crystal ball and know something bad will happen, but we can be ready.”

He’s been successful in his efforts as chief to work with the county’s Board of Supervisors to win the budget to hire 34 new firefighters last year. He’s also worked diligently during his time as chief to implement a successful apparatus replacement program, replacing fire trucks and ambulances that were in service well beyond their intended use.

“We now have the apparatus. We still need more people,” said Lockhart.

But that recruitment effort will fall into the hands of someone else as Lockhart begins packing up his office and heads for the door. As of April 30, he’s retiring from Stafford County and will become the new emergency services section chief for the Wisconsin Division of Public Health.

Joseph Cardello, from Prince Georges County, Md. fire department, will replace Lockhart.

The departing chief agreed in December 2017 to remain on the job until his replacement was found.Retention will be a challenge for Cardello, as many firefighters choose to leave Stafford for larger departments in Northern Virginia, as well as out of state for not only larger paychecks but more opportunity.

“During an exit interview, I had some man who was with us for seven years, he wanted to be a tiller man (the person who rides on the back of a tractor ladder truck, used to fight fires in high-rise buildings). “We’re not going to have tillered ladder trucks in Stafford for a long time.”

Lockhart has lived in Virginia for the past eight years but is originally from St. Louis. Most of his family lives in Missouri and Illinois, and he’s looking forward to a return to Midwestern life.

But he’s not quite ready yet to trade the emergency services world for retirement and a fishing pole.

“If I do any fishing, it’ll be ice fishing on a snowmobile,” he said.