NAHANT — Nahant’s Board of Selectmen formally voted to appoint Dean Palombo as the town’s Fire Chief Thursday.
Palombo, a lifelong Nahant resident who has been with the department for three and a half decades, had already served as acting chief for more than a year, taking over the position from former chief, Michael Feinberg, who left the department in June 2019 as a result of budget cuts.
“He’s been in every rank throughout the department. Worked his way from the bottom,” Town Administrator Antonio Barletta said. “Dean’s been part of the community and part of that department for 36 years, and we’re really excited to name him as the chief officially.”
Palombo began his career as an on-call fireman before he was promoted to lieutenant, then department captain — a position in which he served for the last 15 years.
Replacing Palombo in his former role is senior firefighter Austin Antrim, who was also appointed by the selectmen at Thursday’s meeting.
“I’m just looking forward to serving the citizens in the town of Nahant, as I have for the past 30 years,” Palombo said. “(It’s) a fantastic job and I wouldn’t want to do anything else.”
A formal ceremony was originally scheduled for Thursday evening, but following Nahant’s recent rise in COVID-19 cases, officials opted to move the meeting online and postpone the ceremony to a later date.
Barletta said he felt “great” about Palombo’s appointment.
“(Palombo) is everything you could ask for in a chief and in a fireman and in somebody who represents the Nahant Fire Department,” he said.
Board of Selectmen chair Mark Cullinan echoed Barletta’s sentiments.
“Chief Palombo has my full support,” Cullinan said. “He’s knowledgeable, hard working, and loves Nahant. He’ll do a great job.”
