This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Crime & Safety

HERO PROFILE: WBVFD Fire Fighter Mark Holiday

Woodland Beach Volunteer Fire Department's Mark Holiday doesn't take off for holidays.

Although Mark Holiday lives in Davidsonville he doesn’t spend much time there. During the day he is in Prince George's County working for the P.G. County Public School system. At night, weekends and holidays he can be found in Edgewater. 

That’s where he is usually cooking dinner, housekeeping, watching TV and hanging out with friends, along with responding to life and death situations. Holiday is a volunteer fire fighter with the Woodland Beach VFD. The organization provides fire and rescue services to the greater Edgewater/Mayo and surrounding communities.  

“The best part about being a volunteer fire fighter is the comradery between everyone,” said Holiday. This was apparent on a recent Saturday night at the Bay Side Inn in Edgewater. The WBVFD was hosting its Second Annual Fundraising Concert. The event, attended by over 700 people, was a large undertaking and made for a very long day. “All of our members had been running around working. I had been directing traffic since before lunch,” said Holiday. Not only do these volunteers train, take care of their equipment, and respond to calls for help, but they also must work to raise funds to purchase new equipment and facilities.

Find out what's happening in Croftonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“We are raising money for a new station,” says Holiday, who has been a member for over 13 years, referring to the station located on London Town Road that currently houses eight pieces of fire equipment. The department has grown and Holiday says the volunteers are proud of its commitment to provide the very best to the communities they serve.

“Ever since I was a kid, I knew I wanted to be a fire fighter. I loved seeing all the fire trucks; what kid doesn’t want to be a fire fighter when they grow up?” asked Holiday. He continued “The worst part of the job though is seeing children hurt.” 

Find out what's happening in Croftonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Holiday has been a fire fighter for 11 years and has taken many hours of training including Hazardous Materials Awareness and Operations. He says his most interesting day on the job was back to back fires in the same day and a car fire.  He smiles and continues “That does not normally happen. It was a very interesting and long day!”    

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.