Mark Johnson was elected chief of the Bel Air Volunteer Fire Company this week, the pinnacle of a volunteer fire service career that started 18 years ago as the result of seeing an ad in the newspaper.
Johnson, a resident of Bel Air, was 34 years old, with two young children, in 1998 when he was sitting in the Bagel Works restaurant near the main South Hickory Avenue firehouse, reading The Aegis. He had seen an ad in the paper for fire company volunteers, and he just happened to look up and see a vehicle leave the firehouse for an emergency call.
"One of the best decisions I've ever made is coming up here," Johnson, now 52, said while in the main firehouse vehicle bay Thursday. "You meet such a great group of people."
Johnson was elected chief in a special election during a company business meeting Tuesday evening. The votes were cast electronically by about 75 company members who attended the meeting.