Meet the Middletown fire chief hired to bring trust to the system, improve service
Middletown's newly appointed fire chief has a lot of work to do.
As the township's first paid fire chief, Mark Antozzeski was appointed earlier this month with the intention of leading the four volunteer fire companies and paid fire service in a collaborative improvement effort after a study showed there was a "systemwide lack of trust" between the township and its volunteer services.
"This hire is a big first step," Township Manager Stephanie Teoli Kuhls said.
A 2021 study completed by a consultant group identified issues among the township and its four volunteer fire services. Last year, that group was contracted to come up with an improvement plan. Hiring a new head of fire services was one of four goals.
Under Antozzeski's leadership, the intention is to have the township have a hybrid paid and volunteer service. That means there would be a paid service during the week, and the volunteers would be responsible for the after hours or weekend calls.
“It is the best laid system under the current situation," Antozzeski said.
His main focus, he said, is to have a closer-knit group between the paid and volunteer fire services working together. Volunteers would still assist during the week as well.
Antozzeski has a background in both volunteer and career fire services. He retired as fire chief of Hamilton Township Fire District 9 in Mercer County, New Jersey, in February 2020. The new Middletown chief said in the time since, he had been doing various fire inspection jobs.
Why Antozzeski was named:Why Middletown appointed its first paid fire chief
Middletown adopts plan:After finding of 'system-wide' lack of trust, Middletown adopts improvement plan for township fire service
Consultants hired:Consultants found Middletown's fire services had a 'system-wide lack of trust.' Now, they've been hired to fix it
The opening for township fire chief position was advertised this past fall. Antozzeski said he was intrigued by the position, especially with his background in both paid and volunteer services, which offers him perspective from both sides.
“I’ve seen things done differently in different situations," he said.
The hiring process included interviewing with a panel made of township officials and officials from each of the four volunteer fire companies, which are Langhorne-Middletown, Parkland, Penndel and William Penn. He also met with the fire companies individually.
The improvement plan also sets goals of developing a funding plan for the volunteer fire services, recruiting new volunteers and measuring the performance of the fire services by creating a unified record management system to identify goals and how to meet them.
While the township has accomplished aspects of some of those goals, Antozzeski is tasked with helping officials accomplish all of them. Speaking Tuesday, about a week after he started the job, the new chief said he was still meeting with various township officials and gathering information.
“We’re moving to do things that we can, but also looking at the intermediate and long-term goals as well," he said.
He has met with the four chiefs of the volunteer fire companies as well as other members of the township administration so far.
“Everyone’s been very helpful and I'm sure that will continue on," he said.
Teoli Kuhls said members of the volunteer fire companies were very involved in the hiring process.
"We are all equally as enthused about Mark Antozzeski's hire," she said.
Antozzeski's salary is $110,000 per year.
The improvement plan may be viewed on the township website at https://www.middletownbucks.org/firestrategicplan.
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Mark Antozzeski to lead Middletown in fire improvement plan
