Swampscott names new fire chief

SWAMPSCOTT – Fire Chief Richard Carmody, a 32-year veteran of the department, retired Monday and Tuesday evening the Board of Selectmen appointed his successor.Acting Deputy Chief Michael Champion was appointed as acting chief effective June 30. Capt. Kevin Breen was appointed by the Board of Selectmen to fill the vacancy created by Champion’s appointment as acting chief. Both appointments run through June 30, 2009.Town Administrator Andrew Maylor said the appointments were “acting” because the next chief’s exam and other promotional exams would not be given until next year.Champion, who has been with the department for 37 years, said he is looking forward to his new role as chief.”I’m looking forward to the challenges – this is a different kind of aspect for me now,” he said. “But you can count on still seeing me at fire scenes.”Carmody said one of his first priorities would be getting a new fire engine for the department. Earlier this year, Town Meeting appropriated $300,000 for a new engine but, according to Carmody, an appropriate engine costs approximately $400,000 so the matter is scheduled to go to a special Town Meeting this fall.Champion said there are also major upgrades that need to be done in the dispatch area of the station.All sorts of things go through that hub,” he said. “The fire alarm cards that monitor all the fire alarm boxes in town are located there. Our radios and in-house communications also run through there. All the wires and things in the dispatch area need to be upgraded. Some of the equipment is so old you can’t even get parts for it anymore.”Town Meeting has already approved funding for the upgrades and Champion said he is in the process of drawing up the specifications for the project.Champion said he is also in the process of hiring two new firefighters for the department.”We have two candidates finishing their pre-employment testing,” he said. “Once we hire two firefighters they will be trained in-house for two weeks and then assigned to a group.”Champion said the earliest the new recruits could attend the Fire Academy would be in September, when the next session is offered.Breen, who has been with the department for 31 years and is also the fire prevention officer, said he thinks it will be an interesting year with new challenges.”Last year we got the permitting information into a database format that is searchable,” he said. “I’m looking to do the same thing with our routine inspection information. It is something we should have readily accessible on apparatus for our firefighters at the scene. It would be a valuable tool.”