James Williamson would have been happy to retire from Howland Fire Department as a lieutenant, but that would have left him just short of a long-time goal.
“My goal ever since I started this was to retire somewhere as a captain,” he said.
That somewhere is looking like Brookfield Fire Department, which recently hired Williamson as a captain.
Williamson, 45, of Niles, replaces Mike Hagood, who recently retired, and he joins Nick Cresanto and Steve Smoot as department captains. His hiring was described as a lateral transfer from Howland, where he had worked for 17 years.
“We worked with our firefighter’s union to make sure we’re not violating any collective bargaining agreement,” Brookfield Trustee Dan Suttles said July 6, when Williamson was hired.
Williamson, who was hired in March as a Brookfield part-time firefighter and paramedic, was one of two from within the department to apply for the job, and the only one who met the qualifications, Suttles said. His first day on the job was Aug. 2.
Williamson entered the cadet program at McDonald Fire Department at age 16, following in the footsteps of his brother, John, a captain with McDonald.
Williamson previously worked for Brookfield for eight years, leaving for Howland. He sees himself as providing leadership, assisting Chief David Masirovits, and being a guiding force in training. He is program coordinator for the firefighting side of Trumbull Career and Technical Center’s public safety program, which offers training in police work and firefighting.
His training focus will be on driving, vehicle accidents and extrication, and basic firefighting skills such as running hose lines and putting up ladders, he said.
Brookfield is a young department but Williamson said he is excited to work with the crew, particularly the younger guys, some of whom he knows or attended the TCTC program.
“The potential is phenomenal here right now,” Williamson said. “It’s just a lot of it’s untapped, and we gotta try to get that new car smell off of them and get them out and running.”
Williamson, who has extensive training in arson investigation, praised the work of firefighter Derek Hollander, a TCTC graduate, who was acting captain following Hagood’s last day on April 25.
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