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Her father made history by helping found Prince George's County's first all-black volunteer fire station, and now Ruby Keeling is carving out her own place in the fire department community.

Keeling, 52, of Capitol Heights, was elected Jan. 5 as president of the Landover Hills Volunteer Fire Department, making her the first black woman to hold the position in the station's 65-year history.

Keeling's father, Roy Lee Jordan, was one of the founding members of the Chapel Oaks Volunteer Fire Department, on Sheriff Road in Capitol Heights. Jordan died Oct. 19 at age 87 from prostate cancer.

Keeling and her sister, Evelyn Young, have led the auxiliary to the Landover Hills Fire Department since 2005. The auxiliary is responsible for station fundraising, which includes fish-fry dinners and flea markets to offset the costs of National Night Out and Fire Prevention and Safety Awareness Week, as well as costume parties that serve as trick-or-treat alternatives to keep kids out of trouble on Halloween, Keeling said.

"They needed us and we needed them," Keeling said. "We looked at it as a win-win situation. They were really helpful."

Keeling was elected 22-8, replacing former president Dawn Rowe. Rowe, who is white, became the first female president of the station in 2009 and was elected vice president in January. Keeling and volunteer Station Chief John R. Roberts declined to give the name of Keeling's opponent in the election.

Keeling said she found out on New Year's Eve that her sister had nominated her for the position.

"I was on my way to a New Year's celebration and I got a call en route," Keeling said. "I hadn't even thought about it. [I] hadn't even considered it. I was looking at the possibilities."

Roberts said Keeling has always been supportive and an asset to the station since her days in the auxiliary. The group had 12 members in 2005; today it has more than 22.

"In reality, not just Ruby but the ladies in general, they were a godsend to us," Roberts said.

Keeling's tasks are strictly administrative and not on the operational side, which Roberts oversees.

Her goals are to increase volunteer and auxiliary membership and improve relations between career and volunteer firefighters.

A point of conflict between the two groups is the perception that volunteer firefighters are taking jobs away from career personnel with families to support, although career firefighters may not see that eliminating volunteers altogether could mean a bigger workload and a potential loss of equipment if the volunteers own firefighting gear, she said.

One of Keeling's ideas is to hold small forums throughout the year with career and volunteer firefighters so they can talk openly about frustrations. Roberts said there are 28 career staff members and 16 active-duty volunteer firefighters out of 45 total volunteers.

"I don't see career and volunteer," Keeling said. "I see guys and girls working together to put fires out in the community. That's all I see."

Keeling said if her father were alive, he would tell her how proud he was of her.

"He's going to be there in spirit," she said. "He's going to be there to support me. He's going to be there all the way."

E-mail Natalie McGill at nmcgill@gazette.net.