Turning up the heat to better serve his fellow firefighters

College Park resident to be named president of firefighters’ association

The first vice president is traditionally elected as president the following term, Underwood, 56, said and his first priority will be increasing tax deductions available to volunteer firefighters.

‘‘If you spend three years active, you get $3,500 dollars off your income tax,” he said. ‘‘We’re trying to get it raised to $5,000.”

Underwood, a career firefighter, said he’d also like the state to provide funding for routine physicals for volunteers.

‘‘We have had an increase of strokes and heart attacks over the last few years,” he said. ‘‘Getting some money for that would be helpful. We’ve had people go to the doctor and find out they have clogged arteries that could have caused a heart attack.”

Another possible funding option Underwood said he would like to explore is for fire departments to receive a portion of the revenue from slot machines, should the referendum pass.

The state is scheduled to vote on placing slot machines at racetracks in November’s election.

If the state can guarantee that firefighters will receive a share of the income, it could affect how they vote, Underwood said.

‘‘I’ve got 35,000 firefighters that are voters,” he said. ‘‘If [the state] would lead us to believe that we would get a piece of that action, we’d be more inclined to vote for [the slots].”

Branchville deputy chief Richard Leizear, who has worked with Underwood for 16 years, said his determination to get things accomplished would make him an effective president.

‘‘He fights for what he believes in,” Leizear said. ‘‘It’s a hard battle he has to fight with the government the way it is. He has a great ambition. He sets his mind to something, he gets it done.”

Underwood started his career as a volunteer firefighter at the Allentown Fire Department in Camp Springs when he was 16.

His father, Paul, has been a fire services member for more than 65 years.

Underwood, a former Marine, said that much like his father, his dedication to firefighting is simply because he loves it.

‘‘If I didn’t enjoy it I would have dropped out somewhere along the way,” he said. ‘‘If you love a hobby enough you can do it for your whole life. That’s what I’ve done.”