Captain Rick Blandford

Captain Rick Blandford (Ret.) began his career in the Fire Service in 1984. He was assigned to the Cabin John Fire Department, located near the Potomac River in Montgomery County, Maryland. There he was skilled in water rescue and boat operations at Great Falls Park Maryland. In 1989, Rick was assigned to the Hazardous Materials Team located at Chevy Chase Fire Department. From there, he held every rank on the HazMat Team from Firefighter to Captain. Rick retired from Montgomery County Fire & Rescue Services on January 1, 2017, after 31 years as a career firefighter and Hazmat Specialist. After retirement, Rick joined as a Volunteer Firefighter/Hazmat Specialist for Washington County, Maryland. Rick also serves as the Maryland State Coordinator for TRANSCAER to provide free Hazmat personnel training throughout the State of Maryland. During the October 2001 Anthrax attacks in the Washington DC Metropolitan area, Rick was assigned to the local Emergency Operation Center (EOC) to develop a Risk Assessment plan for 911 call takers to dispatch the appropriate units and personnel for an Anthrax Incident.

Rick served on several committees in the DC metro area. Notably, he served on the Homeland Security COG, NCR in Washington DC to standardize Hazmat Guidelines within the Washington DC Metro for area Hazmat Teams. Rick assisted in the federal grant, “National Capital Region Securing the Cities”, to develop an algorithm for Law Enforcement and Fire Rescue personnel in the Washington DC Metro area in the event of a PRD (Personal Radioactive Detector) activation. In 2014, Rick assisted NTSB Director Deborah Hersman and the NTSB investigators on the capabilities of a Hazmat Team and Incident Stabilization for the investigation on the November 30, 2012, Train derailment in Paulsboro NJ involving a Vinyl Chloride release.

During the evacuation of Afghanistan, Rick was an Assistant Safety Officer for the Dulles Expo Center in Virginia where over 47,000 Afghan refugees were welcomed and processed by the State Department. Following that assignment, he was sent to Pomona, California to serve as a safety officer for the Undocumented children from South America.

When not serving as a Hazmat specialist, safety officer, or firefighter, Rick uses his experience and skill as a 2nd Degree Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do to be a Boxing & Kickboxing Instructor for Fighting Concepts Academy in Hagerstown, Maryland. Rick also plays the bagpipes as a Charter Member of the Montgomery County Firefighters Pipes & Drums Band.