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Saturday, November 02, 2002 - 3:41:37 AM MST

Chief's vacancy
Fairfield to choose deputy fire chief
By ANDREW BROPHY

FAIRFIELD - The longstanding deputy fire chief's vacancy should be filled by next month.

"There's a finalist," First Selectman Kenneth Flatto said Friday. "The Fire Commission has recommended a candidate to me, and the fire chief and I are discussing terms with an individual I think would make a great candidate.

"We're hoping by late November to have a definitive decision."

Sources said the finalist is not from Fairfield's Fire Department, although he is a town resident. If the finalist, a firefighter in Westchester County, N.Y., is hired, he likely would start in December.

Fire Chief Richard Felner said Friday that no one has been officially hired.

The Fire Commission recommended two candidates to Flatto and indicated a preference for one, said David Zabel, the commission chairman.

"Both of the final two candidates were viable candidates for the position," Zabel said. "Both of the final candidates had at least the rank of captain."

Former Deputy Fire Chief William Fitzgerald retired nearly a year ago for medical reasons. Fitzgerald, who had been with the department for eight years, later filed for a disability pension, but was turned down last summer by the Police and Fire Retirement Board.

Before he left, Fitzgerald was making about $83,000 a year.

Felner said two of the department's five captains went through the process to select a deputy fire chief, which included exams and evaluations by an independent board made up of fire chiefs from outside Connecticut.

The Fire Commission also was present for the evaluations, Felner said. "It was open to all captains in the Fairfield Fire Department," Felner said.

Firefighter Al Menillo, president of the local firefighters' union, was unavailable Friday to say whether local firefighters had concerns with the finalist being from outside the department.

Other union firefighters, however, pointed out that the deputy fire chief's position is without union representation. The deputy fire chief, like the fire chief, instead enters into a contract with the town, usually from three to five years.

If the deputy fire chief's contract is not renewed, he would not be able to return to the Fire Department as a captain, firefighters said.

Depending on how long he had been with the department, he could lose his eligibility for a pension, firefighters said.

Felner said fire captains have assisted him while the deputy fire chief's position has been vacant.

"The captains were assisting me on any projects I assigned them to. That's how we got by on that," Felner said.

Andrew Brophy, who covers Fairfield, can be reached at 330-6255.