We would like to thank outgoing Fire Chief Joseph Della-Camera for his dedication to our organization. He led this station through an unprecedented time in our nation’s history with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and did not hesitate to put the safety of his members first.

The Chief, along with President Hassler and the extraordinary building team, moved our entire operation out of our old building, oversaw the construction of the new building, built a temporary quarters at the Armory and then moved everyone and every piece of equipment back successfully. Chief Della-Camera also took office during a massive Squad 2 project, pushing that successfully over the finish line, along with overseeing and assisting with the completion of the Brush and Utility 2 project. In addition, he recently launched the rehab committee for Tower 2. Chief Della-Camera was the lead for the Chief’s Council for Calvert County where he attended countless meetings and oversaw a dozen committees.

There were so many massive moving parts over these last three years and there’s no doubt the chief did this with grace and fairness across the board. It’s not easy managing 70+ individual members and keeping up-to-date with all of the personal events in their lives. There’s been many positive moments, like celebrating the births of many members and unfortunately many difficult moments as well. It was especially hard when we said goodbye to beloved PFVFD volunteers, their spouses or parents who passed away.

Out of all of the successes over this period in the fire department, the chief will tell you his proudest accomplishment is being a dedicated father to his son Jacob, who is following in his footsteps and is a junior member.

Thank you for paving the way for the new administration, Chief. We wish you a lot of luck as you move into your 25th year serving Calvert County as a volunteer.