SHREWSBURY — Chief James Vuona is pleased to announce that the Shrewsbury Fire Department held its annual recognition and promotion ceremony last month.
The ceremony was held on Wednesday, May 26 at the Shrewsbury Fire Department. The ceremony included two years of recognitions since last year’s event was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
At the event, four firefighters were promoted to the rank of lieutenant, seven new firefighters were sworn in and five members were recognized with awards.
“This event was particularly special to us because it was the first time bringing the department and public together since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Chief Vuona. “I am so happy that we were finally able to recognize the achievements of our firefighters. Also, on behalf of the department, I would like to thank the firefighters’ families, town administration, board of selectmen and local representatives for their ongoing support.“
Thomas Schofield, Sean McNiff, Kevin Weigold and Michael Borowiec were promoted to the rank of lieutenant. Each started their new role on March 25 as the first four permanent lieutenants assigned to engine 2.
Lt. Borowiec was also honored with the department’s 2019 Outstanding Firefighter Award for his work in writing multiple successful grant applications for the department. One of the grants helped fund the department’s fire alarm installation and home safety assessment program. For more information on that program, click here. Lt. Schofield was honored with the department’s 2019 and 2020 Outstanding Firefighter Awards for his work in updating and establishing a new policy manual for the department.
Firefighter Brendan Palumbo was honored with the department’s 2020 Firefighter Service and Achievement Award for his work in creating a fire safety video. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Shrewsbury firefighters were unable to visit schools to teach children about fire safety, but with the help of his daughters and wife, Firefighter Palumbo created a fire safety video for children in the community.
For their assistance with this initiative, Firefighter Palumbo’s daughter, Lilly, Kiley and Julie, as well as his wife, Kerry, were honored with the department’s 2020 Community Heroes Award.
The department also swore in seven new firefighters, including Connor Jordan, Kenny Massaro, Craig Mawdsley, Alex Milosz, Michael Penney, Salvatore Sassone and Chris White.
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