Why Middletown appointed its first paid fire chief
Middletown on Thursday announced Mark Antozzeski as the township's first career fire chief.
Antozzeski, a former New Jersey fire chief who brings 40 years of emergency services experience with him, was appointed following an extensive study on the township's fire services and plan to improve them.
Who is the new Middletown fire chief?
Antozzeski was recently the chief of Hamilton Township Fire District 9 in Mercer County, New Jersey, where he held the title for 19 years, according to Middletown.
Additionally, Antozzeski spent time in the U.S. Air Force, where he worked as a firefighter, fire inspector, crew chief and driver. He has also been a volunteer firefighter, career firefighter and instructor for the Office of Emergency Management for the New Jersey State Police.
He also has a bachelor's degree in fire science from the University of Maryland and a master's degree from Columbia Southern University. He has also taught at the Mercer County Fire Academy.
The new chief is expected to be sworn in at the board of supervisors meeting Tuesday night.
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Why did Middletown hire a fire chief?
A 2021 study completed by a consultant group showed a "system-wide lack of trust" between the township and its fire services. The study looked at the four volunteer departments, which are Langhorne-Middletown, Parkland, Penndel and William Penn, as well as the service of the Penndel-Middletown Rescue Squad and the township's paid fire service.
That group, Dynamix Consulting Group, identified areas of improvement, and last year the group was contracted by the township to create an improvement plan.
Dynamix, in its plan released in May, identified four goals to reach by August of this year.
Recruiting a new fire services head was a goal. Others include developing a funding plan for the 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.
The initiatives are part of the first phase of a larger improvement plan.
The plan may be viewed on the township website at https://www.middletownbucks.org/firestrategicplan.
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Middletown names Mark Antozzeski its first career fire chief
