Firefighter Group Pushes for Internal Hire

A state group is urging its members not to apply for the position of Fire Chief in Seekonk.

A letter sent on December 8 to the Professional Fire Fighters of Massachusetts by President Richard D. MacKinnon Jr., states: “The Town of Seekonk has posted a vacancy for the position of Fire Chief. The Seekonk Firefighters Executive Board and the members of Local 1931 strongly believe that qualified and worthy candidates within the Seekonk Fire Department could fill this vacancy and maintain that the position should go to an internal candidate.”

“As a result, we implore PFFM members from outside departments to refrain from applying for the Fire Chief position in the Town of Seekonk.”

The Select Board voted November 29 to appoint former Falmouth Fire Chief Michael Small as the Interim Fire Chief.

“His approach to coming in as an interim is putting both feet forward,” Town Administrator Shawn Cadime said of Small, who retired in 2020.

Former Select Board Chair Michael Healy criticized the board for hiring Small as Interim Fire Chief. Healy, a former Seekonk Fire Chief, resigned from the board on November 13.

“We hire a Fire Chief (from outside Seekonk) when we have someone internally who could be the Interim Chief,” Healy said. “(The firefighter) wasn’t even considered for anything for personal reasons. I will no longer sit here and watch public safety be destroyed in the town of Seekonk. There isn’t one ounce of safety anywhere in the fire (department) in the town of Seekonk right now.”

Chief Sandra Lowery, who has been on sick leave since mid-September,

will be retiring in February. Lowery has been serving in the position since October 2021.