Three rookies join Norwalk Fire Department

NORWALK - After 15 weeks at the Connecticut Fire Academy, three Fairfield County men took oaths of office to join the Norwalk Fire Department Monday.

"You are about the start the best job in the world," Chief Denis McCarthy told the department's newest firefighters, William Ireland, 32, of Norwalk, Bryan Fogle, 25, of Fairfield and Adam Sussman 36, of Bethel.

Mayor Richard Moccia administered the department oath and handed badges to the rookies' relatives to pin on their shirts.

Ireland, son of 18-year city employee William Ireland, the city's chief building official, said he couldn't believe he was in the department.

During Ireland's first shift as a firefighter Sunday afternoon, he responded to Dixie Lane, where a woman gave birth on the freezing driveway of her home.

"It was pretty exciting," said Ireland, who gave up a job as a human resources manager for a financial firm to join the department.

Ireland said becoming a firefighter has been his goal since Sept. 11, 2001.

Sussman, who is a Staples High School graduate, said he has wanted to be a fireman for as long as he can remember. He supported himself as a carpenter for most of his adult life.

After passing her 9-week old baby to a relative, his wife, Stacey, pinned Sussman's fire department badge on his shirt.

Fogle, who earned a bachelor's degree in media studies at Sacred Heart University while writing a sports column for the school paper and working as engineer and program director for the school's radio station, said he dreamed about being a firefighter.

"I'm excited to get my career started. This is where I wanted to be," he said.

After the three received their badges, McCarthy told them they can't be effective at work unless they take care of their families first. He told them to take pride of ownership in the department and gave them each a book on the subject.

"We want you to feel that you own the department every day," he said. "We are expecting that they will be here for the next 30 years."

There are 122 firefighters in the 140-man Norwalk Fire Department, McCarthy said.

Six firefighter positions are not filled on a semi-permanent basis, McCarthy said.

The next round of firefighter recruiting will begin after Jan. 1.

- Staff Writer John Nickerson can be reached at john.nickerson@scni.com or 750-5307.