Chief Blankenship commands the Louisiana Grille fire in Laurel.

After more than thirty five years with the Howard County Fire Department, Chief Richard Blankenship has retired, effective May 1, 2008. His last shift was April 27, 2008. He retired as a battalion chief assigned to the facilities division of Fleet, under the Logistics branch.

He was hired as a recruit in 1972, and promoted to the rank of firefighter first class in 1975. He then became certified as a EMT-Paramedic, a level of certification which he held for 14 years. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1980, follwed shortly thereafter to the rank of captain in 1982. He achieved the rank of battalion chief in 1990.

Chief Blankenship is certified as a Fire Officer 4, as well as being an instructor for Fire Officer levels 1 through 3. Additionally, he is also certified as an EMT-B, and an instructor for such.

His career began at station 5 (Clarksville) in August, 1972. In September, 1972 he was assigned to attend fire school. Upon completion of fire school, he was assigned to company 7 (Columbia), on B shift. From there, he moved between companies 5 and 7, depending on the department's needs.

In the twilight of his career, he was assigned to attend to the department's facilities, under the county's Fleet division. In addition to his responsibilities handling the department's facilities, he was also responsible for handling light duty personnel and other duties as assigned.