Charles Burton, the long-standing current Chairman of the Prince George's County Fire Commission
passed away
earlier this week.
Burton was a Past President of both the Prince George's County Volunteer Fire
& Rescue Association and the Maryland State Firemans
Assocation, as well as Past Chief of the Landover Hills Volunteer Fire Department.
Burton was recently appointed as the first Honorary Chief of Prince George's County.
In a ceremony at the Hyattsville Volunteer Fire Department earlier this Fall, Burton
was recognized by fire department officials for winning the 1999 Hammill Awards
by the Prince George's Volunteer Coordinator Association.
Burton, 84, served as chairman for 11 years, overseeing operational
and administrative support for the county's 48 volunteer companies.
"I've been very fortunate," Burton told the Prince George's Gazette
earlier this year. "I've had every fire position."
Burton's passion for fire service began as a child when he used to watch the
annual parades of bright red fire trucks that used to
roll down Pennsylvania Avenue on Labor Days in the District of Columbia,
the Gazette reported earlier this year.
But his committment grew even stronger
when the memory of his grandmother's death in a fire in 1928.
"That is something that has always stuck with me," Burton told the Gazette.
According to the Gazette story, one of Burton's main focuses was
volunteer recruitment and retention: He implemented incentive programs
to recruit and retain volunteer members; created a recruitment hotline at 301-699-JOIN;
and distributed funds for awards to each volunteer station.
Viewing: Thursday, December 2, 1999 2PM - 4PM and 6PM - 9PM at the Trinity Assembly of God, 7800 Good Luck Road, New Carrollton, MD
Fire Department Memorial Service: Thursday, December 2, 1999 7PM at the Trinity Assembly of God, 7800 Good Luck Road, New Carrollton, MD
Funeral: Friday, December 3, 1999 10AM at St. Mary's Catholic Church Landover Hills, MD (at intersection of MD Rt. 450 and Ardmore Road) Internment to follow at Fort Lincoln Cemetery.
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