Upholding a nearly 135-year tradition, Benjamin Barksdale Jr. was officially sworn in as Orlando Fire Department’s newest fire chief. Barskdale is about one-third of the way through visiting all the shifts at all stations, asking firefighters what they most love about the Orlando Fire Department and what would they change if they were chief for a day. His goal: diversity and inclusiveness.
“The biggest challenge right now is diversity,” Barksdale said. “It’s going to take cooperation with everyone.”
According to statistics provided by the Orlando Fire Department, African Americans make up less than 9% of sworn firefighters and 12% of the civilian staff.
Within Orange County Fire Rescue, which is twice the size of the Orlando Fire Department, minorities make up 48.6% of the workforce.