Assistant fire chief sworn in

By Martin B. Cassidy
Staff Writer

November 9, 2007

With more than two dozen firefighters looking on, Greenwich's new assistant fire chief Robert Kick asked them to help him improve the performance and morale of the department.

Since joining the department in 1993, Kick said he has learned that he should listen to both experienced and junior firefighters, and always recognize that he can improve the way he does his job, he said at a Town Hall ceremony in which he was promoted to assistant chief, the second-highest rank in the Greenwich Fire Department.

"When I first came on the fire department, we used to talk about 'It's my turn to come to work,' " the Newtown native said at a Town Hall ceremony. "Everybody knows what we have to do here so let's get to work."

In addition to his fellow firefighters, the ceremony was attended by Kick's wife Laurie Kick, and his four-year-old daughter Sarah, as well as Selectman Peter Crumbine, and Selectman Penny Monahan.

As the department's assistant chief, Kick will be responsible for running the department's daily operations, including budgeting, training, and managing the department's four deputy chiefs.

Kick joined the department in 1993, and was promoted to lieutenant in 2001.

Last May, he and three others were promoted to deputy chief, a new post that served as shift commanders directing firefighters responding to emergencies.

Fire Chief Peter Siecienski said that of the eight finalists interviewed for the job, Kick's experience and leadership ability stood out.

"We had eight wonderful candidates, but we all agreed that Bob came out on top," Siecienski said.

Lash said he got to know Kick shortly after he was elected following a Dec. 5, 2003, fire on Davis Avenue which seriously injured three firefighters, when unionized fire personnel demanded changes be made in the organization and procedures of the department.

At the time, Kick was vice president of the Greenwich Firefighters Local 1042, the fire union, and pushed Lash and town officials to review the effort battling the fire, and institute changes in the department's organizational structure, Lash recalled.

"He was telling me what could be better in the department and now that he is in a leadership position I'd like to see what he will do," Lash said to laughter. "It's an appropriate bookend to my tenure."

Kick said that his time as a union leader gave him practical experience in convincing elected officials and town administrators to make important changes.

"It gave me an insight into how things work and how to get things done through others," Kick said.

Deputy Fire Chief Thomas Nixon said that as a firefighter and then lieutenant, Kick stands out as someone who demands things be done right, winning him the respect of rank-and-file firefighters.

"It doesn't surprise me at all that he came out on top and I'm looking forward to him being my boss," Nixon said. "Bob is about doing what's right and his decisions are made based on the safety and well-being of those working under him and the citizens of the town."