Framingham Re-Opening Search For Fire Chief

The Town of Framingham is again accepting applications for Fire Chief.

Framingham Town Manager Bob Halpin told Selectmen Tuesday night that the Town is re-opening the search and has hired a consultant to help with the process.

Halpin said he and the town’s human resources director have “hired Resource Management Associates of Tinley Park, IL and Andover to serve as a consultant in the Fire Chief recruiting and selection process and in particular to conduct the Assessment Center exam which will be part of that process.”

Halpin told Selectmen the two met with the firm this week and “jointly concluded that we should briefly reopen the application period in hopes of arriving at a deeper pool of candidates that our original ad, posted during the holiday season, resulted in.”

The Town of Framingham will accept applications through Feb. 26.

Interviews and the assessment will take place in mid-March.

Halpin said he plans to recommend a new Framingham Fire Chief in early April.

Under the Town Manager Act the appointment of the Fire Chief must meet with the concurrence of the Framingham Board of Selectmen.

The town’s former Fire Chief Gary Daughtery announced his resignation in November, effective in January.

Deputy Chief Anthony Pillarella is presently serving as Interim Fire Chief for the Framingham Fire Department.

Pillarella has served within the Framingham Fire Department for 29 years - 24 of those years he has served as an officer within the department and he has been a Deputy Chief for just over 3 years.

Pillarella is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force. His father is a retired Deputy Chief within the department and he carries on a family tradition of public service within the Framingham Fire Department.

He is currently an instructor with the Department of Fire Services Firefighting Academy and has had a relationship with the academy for more than 25 years.

The Town Manager had earlier appointed Deputy Chief Kevin Burns to serve as Interim Chief but a personal matter forced him to reconsider and ultimately decline the appointment.

Between the resignation of Interim Fire Chief Burns and the hiring of Interim Fire Chief Pillarella, Deputy Chief Stephen Stone, served as Interim for a few days. Stone did not wish to be Interim Chief, Halpin said.