LYNN — Lynn Fire Chief Stephen Archer announced that he will retire on Jan. 4, stepping away from his nearly 29 years of service at the Lynn Fire Department.
Archer, who joined the department as a firefighter in 1993, before climbing the ranks to be promoted to a lieutenant in 1999, a captain in 2002, and a district fire chief in 2012, has served as fire chief since he was sworn in on Feb. 13, 2018.
Archer pointed to his brother, Swampscott Fire Chief Graham Archer, as his inspiration to becoming a firefighter in the early 90s.
“My younger brother Graham, who is fire chief in Swampscott, preceded me into the fire service. He was the one who kind of inspired me to go into the fire service myself, he encouraged me to pursue this as a career. I’m very glad I did,” Archer said.
Reflecting on nearly three decades of service in Lynn, Archer has seen the good, the bad, and the ugly sides of his profession. From attending the hundredth birthday party of the oldest living Lynn Fire retiree, Rocco Brienzo in 2019, to responding to the fire on 300 Lynn Shore Drive in 1995, when firefighters were unable to escape and had to be rescued by an aerial ladder.
“We’ve had some really challenging incidents which I’ve been involved with — the three-headed Lynn Shore Drive Fire, where some of our firefighters were caught in a really tough situation. Fortunately, we were able to get them out safely. You know, we’ve had some other tragic fires throughout the years, loss of life fires are the ones that kind of stick with you,” Archer said. “There’s also been a lot of high high points as well. I think about celebrating Rocky Brienzo, who was our oldest living retiree, still alive today. We were able to celebrate his 100th birthday a few years ago, and christened our brand new rescue boat in his honor.”
As fire chief, Archer played a crucial role in establishing and running the Youth Fire Academy program, which teaches teenagers the rudimentary skills associated with a career in fire services through hands-on exercises. Among other significant achievements, such as securing fire response vehicles, and the department’s aerial drone program.
“We were able to oversee the purchase and delivery of several new pieces of fire apparatus and other Fire Department vehicles, we instituted our boat rescue team, we began an aerial drone program, and the new Fire Academy was a huge success. We visualize it being a recruitment tool for the future, to pull out local youths and get them interested in the fire service as a career,” Archer said.
After Archer’s retirement early next year, District Chief Daniel Sullivan will take the reins as the city’s new fire chief. Among a string of new programs and additions to the department, Archer said that Sullivan will inherit, and ultimately, take over Lynn Fire’s upcoming Community Medicine Program, and a new waterfront safety initiative, and possibly a high school safety curriculum to teach high school students basic life-saving emergency response skills.
“I started this chief five years ago, but my goal has always been to take the great tradition that I was handed and try to make some real, tangible improvements, and then, hopefully hand it off to somebody else in just a little better condition than I found it. I think we’ve accomplished that, and I’m confident that my successor is going to be able to push it forward even more,” Archer said.
Aside from spending his retirement traveling with his wife, Susan, who Archer described as his “biggest supporter” and “rock” over the years, Archer said that he would continue his work on the Executive Board of the Lynn Rotary Club, and hopes to do some ministry work at his church, the Calvary Christian Church in Lynnfield.
“It’s [Religion is] pivotal in the way I am, and the way I would approach my job, where I work with people, and the way I live my life. God has been so great to me and my family, and I understand that it’s important that we give back that we always give back to others,” Archer said.
Mayor Jared Nicholson, in a written statement, thanked Archer for his years of service to his department and his city, wishing him well in his retirement.
“Fire Chief Archer has been a tremendous asset to the Lynn Fire Department and the City of Lynn as a whole,” Nicholson said. “We are grateful for the years of service he has dedicated to the community and we send him our best wishes in his retirement.”
Archer, thanking those he served for their years of support and care, said that his community made his time as fire chief “extremely rewarding.”
“I just like to thank all the people who have supported me throughout the years that I’ve been on this job and also my time here as chief,” Archer said. “When I was promoted to Chief, I was moved almost to tears by the outpouring of support in the form of letters, cards and phone calls, from friends and supporters. With that kind of help, that kind of support, and all the people I’ve had the opportunity of working with, my time here’s been an extremely rewarding experience.”
