Exeter Fire Department promotes eight to ranks of lieutenant and captain
EXETER — The Exeter Fire Department recently announced the promotion of eight of its members to the ranks of lieutenant and captain.
Surrounded by fellow fire and rescue personnel, Exeter Fire retirees, family, friends, members of the Police Department and town officials, the officers gathered for a promotional swearing-in ceremony July 7 as they continue to serve their community.
Promoted from fire lieutenant to fire captain were Capt. Michael Avellino, Capt. Mark Bradford, Capt. Andrew Martin, and Capt. Patrick Robicheau. Promoted from crew chief to fire lieutenant were Lt. Ryan Booth, Lt. Stephen Holmes, Lt. Timothy Sirois, and Lt. Matthew Slattery.
Fire Chief Eric Wilking led the ceremony, congratulating the new officers and praising members of the department for their commitment to fire service and protecting the town of Exeter.
“We protect it with the best, finest and most dedicated fire service providers in this state and for that, we should be grateful,” he told those in attendance.
Addressing the new lieutenants, Wilking said it’s taken years of experience and constant training and testing to reach this point in their careers.
“These gentlemen have demonstrated to both their peers and their supervisors that they can lead … and we believe they’re ready for those challenges,” he said.
Wilking said the department will continue to evaluate its needs over the next year and duties will shift between lieutenants and captains.
He spoke about recent staffing changes that have been made and the need for additional captain positions as the department grows and becomes busier. The department consistently responds to more than 4,000 calls annually, and with many back-to-back calls, Wilking said the need to have supervision and leadership on each piece of apparatus, as well as at the station, becomes more necessary.
With shift staffing now at seven personnel, he said that having two officers assigned to each shift better addresses best practices of two to three subordinates to each supervisor.
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While speaking to the new fire captains, Wilking said time management and delegation of tasks will become necessary to succeed in the position.
“The captain plays an important role setting the daily pace of each shift," he said. "While absolutely the leader of the shift, the captain will assign responsibilities and the position will move closer and closer to that of administrative duties and management activities such as building maintenance, vehicles, ordering supplies and … keeping shift staffing, leave requests, overtime management and coordinating those duties.”
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As the newly sworn-in lieutenants and captains assume their new roles, Wilking said they’ll need to make hard choices during tough calls.
“You may ask your firefighters to do difficult tasks and place them in harm’s way when necessary,” he said. “Lead from the front, show them the way, rely on your experiences both good and bad, and use the training to make the decision.”
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Exeter Fire Department promotes eight to ranks of lieutenant and captain
