New Deputy Fire Chief Ready To Start In Mansfield

MANSFIELD, CT — The town of Mansfield has scheduled a swearing-in ceremony for its new deputy fire chief, Kevin W. Danielson, for next week.

The ceremony is on tap for Monday, January 13 at 6:30 p.m., prior to the Town Council’s first meeting of the new year.

The community is invited to attend.

This newly created position within Mansfield's Fire and Emergency Services Department
will be responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operations of the department’s fire, rescue, and
emergency medical response. The Deputy Chief will help ensure that staff is all well trained, and that the department’s equipment is properly maintained.

"I am really excited to have Deputy Chief Danielson joining our team," Fire Chief John Roache said. "As our call volume continues to increase, this position will be instrumental in helping ensure that we consistently deliver the professional level of service that our residents and visitors to Mansfield have come to expect."

Danielson is a 35-year veteran of the fire service and a retired 26-year veteran with the
City of Clifton Fire Department in New Jersey, where he served as a shift captain and as the
department's hazardous materials coordinator. Clifton is one of the three largest hazardous materials teams in northern New Jersey.

Danielson holds an Associate in Applied Science in Fire Science from the Community College of the Air Force in Maxwell Air Force Base, AL, and an Associate of
Arts in Liberal Arts from the County College of Morris in Randolph, NJ.

His commitment to firefighting started when he trained and deployed to Yellowstone National Forest with the New Jersey Division of Forestry in 1988. He is also a veteran of the United States Air Force as a fire protection specialist, Kevin was deployed on an overseas assignment in support of Operation Desert Shield /Storm.

He attended US EPA hazardous materials technician class while at Vandenberg Air Force Base which launched him into a career in hazardous materials and incident management.

In 2020, he was designated the Jersey City/Newark Regional Urban Area Securities Initiative Mass Decontamination Team Leader. The position allows him to manage hazardous materials teams
and mass decontamination teams at high target incidents in the North New Jersey and New York
Region.

Danielson has experience in special operations for Ground Zero in New York City for 9/11
operations, hazardous materials team response for Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and Super Bowl 48 at MetLife Stadium.

He is also a Mass Decontamination/ Hazardous Materials project lead for UASI for the World Cup in 2026.

"Deputy Chief Danielson will provide strong operations leadership to our department," Town Manager Ryan Aylesworth said. "The depth and breadth of Kevin's professional experience in the fire service demonstrates the range of valuable organizational skills he brings to our community. The town of Mansfield continues to plan for and experience substantial growth, particularly with respect to new housing developments, and this places added importance on our fire and emergency services response and overall capacity. Deputy Chief Danielson will provide essential guidance and managerial support to Chief Roache and the town's administration to ensure Mansfield Fire and Emergency Services meets the needs and expectations of our growing community both now and into the future."