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Community-Supported News. Free to all.
VOL. 10, NO. 22
28
APRIL 10, 2025
Williams Takes the Helm as Fire Chief BY HANNA PAMPALONI
hpampaloni@loudounnow.org
As the county’s fire and rescue Chief Keith Johnson retires after a 40-year career, another experienced Loudoun firefighter is stepping into the role. County Administrator Tim Hemstreet announced Monday that Assistant Chief of Operations James Williams was chosen for the position following a national search. “It’s such an honor and a privilege to assume this position and to be entrusted, to be appointed to this position and I don’t take that lightly at all,” Williams said. Williams started his career as a volunteer firefighter before being hired by the Loudoun County Combined Fire-Rescue System. “I started as a volunteer in Montgomery County [MD] at Cabin John Park Volunteer Fire Department,” he said. “I started there while I was in high school, and spent a lot of time there, and I credit the foundation of who I am as a firefighter and EMT to some of that initial training and certification and experience.” Williams volunteered in Montgomery County for eight years before he was hired by Loudoun in 2001. He was only in the academy for a short time when the 9/11 attacks occurred, and he and his fellow recruits were partnered up with other firefighters and dispatched to Dulles Airport to NEW FIRE CHIEF continues on page 6
Hanna Pampaloni/Loudoun Now
Loudoun County Combined Fire and Rescue Chief Keith Johnson signs thank you notes before retiring after over 40 years of firefighting.
‘Heck of a Ride’
Johnson Bids Farewell after 40 Years of Firefighting BY HANNA PAMPALONI
hpampaloni@loudounnow.org
There was never a moment that Keith Johnson doesn’t remember wanting to be a firefighter. Not when he was a kid visiting his father who was a volunteer firefighter, not when he graduated high school and began volunteering with his local station, and
not when he left college to take a job with the Fairfax County fire and rescue system. Nearly 42 years later, and as chief of the Loudoun County Combined Fire and Rescue System, Johnson is finally bidding farewell to the career he’s dedicated most of his life to. But his work will continue to impact community members for decades. Johnson was raised in Long Island, NY, with firefighting and public service in
his blood. “I literally grew up in the fire house,” he recalls. He started volunteering with a fire department in Long Island, and after spending two years at college, he applied for jobs JOHNSON RETIREMENT continues on page 38
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