Safety officer at a MD apartment fire was an impostor

Richard Donald Francisco II of White Plains, Maryland in Charles County showed up at a January 3 apartment fire in his community offering to help out. That sounds like a nice thing to do, but there is more to the story and it has left Francisco charged by the Maryland State Fire Marshal’s Office with impersonating a member of an emergency squad.

According to news reports, the fire marshal became involved three days after the fire when it was determined that the man who showed up in a vehicle with lights activated and wearing a fire department coat with “PGFD” on it was not actually a current member of an area fire department.

Francisco had his membership at Brandywine VFD in neighboring Prince George’s County revoked 14 months earlier and apparently had been denied membership at a Charles County fire company. At one time he was listed as an assistant chief with Brandywine.

Andrew Michaels, SoMDNews.com:

At approximately 7:30 p.m. Jan. 3, Francisco went to an apartment fire in the 4700 block of Crain Highway in White Plains, charging papers stated, and identified himself as the commanding officer with the Prince George’s County Fire Department, wearing an official protective firefighting coat with “PGFD” lettering on the back. He also was wearing a white helmet with a shield from Brandywine VFD that showed the “40-B” rank, representing an assistant chief.

Court documents state Francisco asked officials how he could help. He was then assigned as safety officer to ensure safety of all emergency services personnel and civilians on the scene. Officials added Francisco to the Charles County Communication Center’s call log as “Chief 40-B.”