Crime & Safety

Fire Commission Promotes Seven New Officers

Effective Friday, two will be promoted to the position of assistant chief and five to the rank of lieutenant.

The Fairfield Fire Commission ushered in a wave of "new energy" to fill vacancies in the assistant chief and lieutenant rankings of the Fire Department with the promotions of seven officers on Tuesday.

Two lieutenants were promoted to assistant chief positions and five firefighters to lieutenant positions as a result of written and oral examinations conducted in January.

Effective Friday, Feb. 8, Schuyler Sherwood and Eric Kalapir will both be promoted to assistant chief/shift commander. Dennis Eannotti, James Shiller, Joseph Swindon, Jeff Edmondson, and Robert Smith will become lieutenants.

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"It's an exciting time -- not just for them, but for us," Assistant Chief Chris Tracy said. "It brings new energy to the department."

To be considered for these promotions, the firefighters had to pass a written test administered over two days in early January and then an oral exam conducted over three days during the last week of January.

Find out what's happening in Fairfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

A promotions list for each rank was created based on the results of the exams. The Fire Commission promulgated -- or formally announced -- the lists, which were immediately put into effect and are good for 18 months. These lists avoid the need for provisional -- or temporary -- promotions to fill assistant chief and lieutenant vacancies.

Based on the test results and the promulgated lists, there are five more men who are qualified to fill vacancies as they arise in the assistant chief positions and eight firefighters who can fill future lieutenant openings.

Those men are:

For Future Assistant Chief Vacanies, in the following order: 

  • Patrick Barry
  • Roger Caisse
  • John Cronin
  • Darrick Lundeen
  • Philip Higgins

For Future Lieutenant Vacancies, in the following order:

  • Scott Trembley
  • Brian McHugh
  • Joseph Galla
  • Jeff Pinckney
  • Jonathan Catandella
  • Thomas Pond
  • Kevin Polcer
  • Finn MacDaniel

"Every one of these fellows that made it deserved it. These are smart, sharp people," Felner said. "I’m very excited about these promotions; we have a lot of young talent and we’re looking forward to moving ahead."

"Our promotional process is very thorough, and my goal is that my firefighters get home after every shift and all our citizens are safe, " he added.


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