Nine current and former New Haven Fire Department administrators have applied to be the agency’s next chief

9 vie for job as fire department chief

Joseph Straw, Register Staff

January 04, 2003

NEW HAVEN — Nine current and former Fire Department administrators have applied to be the agency’s next chief, with the mayor expected to appoint one of them by the end of the month, the city’s chief administrative officer said.

The applicants are:

•Battalion Chief Anthony Calloway, a 24-year department veteran.

•Lt. Andrew Campion, the department’s emergency communications 911 supervisor, who has been with the department for 29 years.

•Lt. Abraham Colon, the department’s supervisor of emergency medical services and a city firefighter for 16 years.

•Assistant Chief Ron Dumas, the agency’s head of operations, who has served as the department’s acting chief since Wednesday, and joined the department 16 years ago.

•Assistant Chief Michael Grant, the department’s head of administration and a 31-year department veteran.

•Battalion Chief Vincent Landisio, a 20-year member of the department.

•Lt. Richard Rowe, a 23-year department veteran.

•Retired Lt. Robert Whelan, who served from 1970 until 1992.

•Retired Assistant Chief Allyn Wright, the former head of administration, who served from 1975 until 2000.

Former Fire Chief Dennis Daniels, 54, retired Wednesday. He resigned last month — reportedly under pressure from City Hall — amid mounting budgetary problems within the department.

City CAO Karen DuBois-Walton said that city human resources staff members are researching whether Colon and Rowe meet the requirements for fire chief outlined in the city charter.

Applicants must have a degree in fire science, a requirement satisfied by graduation from the city’s Fire Academy, must have served at least five years with the department and five in a management position, and they must live in New Haven or pledge to move here within six months of being sworn into office.

A six-member search committee made up of Chairwoman DuBois-Walton, city resident Eduardo Perez Jr., fire commissioner William Celentano, commission Chairman George Longyear, former commission Chairman Bishop Theodore Brooks, and former Fire Chief Martin O’Connor, will interview eligible applicants Tuesday and Wednesday.

The search committee will reconvene after the interviews and recommend three candidates to Mayor John DeStefano Jr., DuBois-Walton said.

"(DeStefano’s) indicated to me that he doesn’t want this to drag out," DuBois-Walton said.

DuBois-Walton said the department’s next chief must be a strong fiscal administrator who can oversee an ever-changing mission, which has shifted in recent years from firefighting toward emergency medical response and homeland security.

"We’re looking for someone with strong management skills, someone who has the ability to effectively direct the work force and bring some vision, who will take some initiative in the next evolution of the fire department," DuBois-Walton said.

Joseph Straw can be reached at jstraw@nhregister.comor at 789-5714.