REVERE — Sixteen permanent reserve firefighters have been appointed to the Revere Fire Department.
Michael Mullen, Philip Bulla, George Levasseur, Joseph Fabiano, Dylan Stuart, Joseph D’Ambrosio, Paul Buonfiglio, Jeffrey Ortega, William Mac Millan, Tyler D’Angelo, Joseph Heard, Jacqueline Snyder, Matthew Tata, Anthony Bonasaro, Matthew Parlante, and Johnny Villada were sworn in at Revere City Hall Monday afternoon.
These 16 reservists will be added to ranks as veteran firefighters retire.
Last month, David Serino, Michael DiMartino, Louis Iovine, Daniel Doherty, Michael Palleschi, Kristopher Sarcia and Manuel Velez were each sworn in as permanent firefighters with the department.
The city received $1.1 million through Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) Grant from U.S. Department of Homeland Security in August, which allowed the department to increase its staff from 102 to 106 firefighters this year and replace retirees and those out with long-term injuries.
Seven additional firefighters will attend the fire academy in October. Those seven will be ready for deployment by December, said Fire Chief Chris Bright.
The goal is to make brown-outs a rarity, Bright said in August.
The term “brown-outs” refers to the temporary closing of one fire station or piece of apparatus, typically on a shift-to-shift basis.
There were 380 out-of-service days in 2017, according to a statement from Mayor Brian Arrigo. The city’s human resource department is working with the department to refill the reserve list to help it reach the 106 firefighters.
