Michael G. Ryman was elected Fire Chief on January 1, 2018 and continues to serve in that capacity.
For the year 2017, Chief Ryman held the rank of Assistant Chief and Senior Operational Officer. He joined the BVFD on June 7, 2010 as an experienced firefighter from Pennsylvania. He immediately began to complete additional training classes and became a “live in” Member in December of 2010. He was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant on November 19, 2012.
Training remained a focus area for Chief Ryman, both in seeking new and advanced courses to take and serving as the Department’s Training Officer. On April 23, 2015 he was promoted to the rank of Captain. During his tenure with the BVFD, Chief Ryman has earned three Unit Citations from the Montgomery County Fire Rescue Service as well as a Bronze Medal for Valor. In addition, he has frequently been recognized as the BVFD’s top responder. On April 24, 2017, he achieved Certified Chief Officer status after completing the rigors of County training and testing. Further, in January of 2022, Chief Ryman was cleared to function as a Volunteer Duty Operations Chief, allowing him to roster to provide command officer coverage county wide supporting all on-duty personnel, but most specifically volunteers.
In addition to operational responsibilities, Chief Ryman serves as a District Representative on the Board of Directors of the Montgomery County Volunteer Fire Rescue Association. This includes participation or leadership in multiple county-wide committees representing all volunteer personnel.
Chief Ryman is currently employed as a Response and Recovery Specialist with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Administration. Chief Ryman was previously employed as an Emergency Response Planner with the Emergency Response System of the Maryland National Capital Region, planning for the development of critical incident response capabilities. He has extensive expertise in the field of Emergency Management and specifically Emergency Response. Prior to those employments, Chief Ryman worked for the Maryland Emergency Management Agency as a shift supervisor in the Maryland Joint Operations Center.
Chief Ryman holds a Master’s Degree in Emergency Management as well as a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of Maryland University College. Chief Ryman also has a Bachelor’s degree in Emergency Management with a minor in Fire Service Administration from UMUC. Additionally, Chief Ryman is a Certified Emergency Manager (CEM), certified Project Management Professional (PMP), and holds an Executive Fire Officer (EFO) designation from the National Fire Academy.
Chief Ryman has extensive experience providing Situational Awareness, Incident Management, Policy Development, as well as over 15 years of Fire Service experience with substantial training in Technical Rescue and Hazardous Materials response.
Finally, Chief Ryman is also a member of the National Capital Region Communications Interoperability Group (NCR CIG) and a Rescue Specialist with Maryland Taskforce 1, one of 28 FEMA sponsored Urban Search and Rescue Teams available to respond to disasters nation wide.