In college, he chose a firehouse over a frat house. Now he's Natick's fire chief
NATICK — Jason Ferschke lived in a firehouse while he was going to college and now, 25 years later, he has been named Natick's new fire chief.
Ferschke, currently a Westborough deputy chief, won unanimous approval Wednesday from the Natick Select Board to succeed the now-retired Michael Lentini, beating out two other finalists. His hiring is contingent on successful contract negotiations and a background check.
"I'm very excited for the opportunity," he said.
Ferschke, 43, grew up in Auburn and became interested in firefighting when a friend's father, who was a firefighter, brought them to the fire station on weekends. He later read an article about some teens who were living at the fire house while going to college.
"I decided that's what I wanted to do," Ferschke said.
He became a junior firefighter and lived at the firehouse while attending Worcester Polytechnic Institute. He then became a call firefighter in 1996.
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Ferschke worked in Auburn until 2007, when he moved to the Westborough Fire Department. There he rose through the ranks, becoming deputy fire chief in 2016, he said.
Ferschke said there are some differences between Natick and Westborough — at roughly 37,000 residents, Natick is nearly twice Westborough's size — but there are a lot more similarities.
"I actually analyzed that quite a bit," he said. "As much as there are differences, there are a lot of similarities. Westborough has a lot of commercial and large industrial facilities."
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Although Westborough is not on the Boston Marathon route, Ferschke has worked as an emergency management services section chief at the starting line in Hopkinton for the past six years. He also has experience dealing with shopping malls from his time in Auburn.
"The Natick Fire Department has a very strong command group and a great group of firefighters and I'm sure they'll get me started on the right track," Ferschke said.
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His first order of business will be to get to know the staff, as well as the town's residents. He wants to improve emergency medical services, which took a hit when MetroWest Medical Center closed emergency services at Leonard Morse Hospital in Natick.
"Long term, looking toward the future, we want to see how the community is growing and for us to grow with them and to continue to meet their needs," Ferschke said.
He said he looked forward to this next step in his career.
"I was truly blessed to work in Westborough and I'm looking forward to working in Natick," he said. "It's a great community."
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Norman Miller can be reached at 508-626-3823 or nmiller@wickedlocal.com. For up-to-date public safety news, follow Norman Miller on Twitter @Norman_MillerMW or on Facebook at facebook.com/NormanMillerCrime.
This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Jason Ferschke looks forward to being new Natick fire chief
