Robert Ross Excited to Return as Middletown's South Fire Chief

Middletown native Robert J. Ross is so thrilled to return to head the South Fire District that he's counting on it being his last.
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"I'm honestly hoping this will be the job I retire from." That's not to say he won't be hard at work come June 24, when he's sworn in to head the department.

"They are a great bunch of guys throughout the city and our mutual aid partners in Durham, Middlefield, Cromwell and Portland," says Ross, who was in charge of South Fire from 2005 to 2007, when he left to become state fire marshal. 

"Over the last three months," Ross says, "I'd bump into guys from the department around town and I was surprised at the enormous support. They'd say, 'we'd love to have you back.'"

Since his departure, Ross says, he was approached to run as a commissioner. "I didn't I wanted to do that at the time," he says, making this opportunity to return to the department he considers home that much more thrilling.

South Fire District Board of Commissioners Chair David P. Gallitto announced Thursday Ross will replace former Chief Edward Badamo, who left the department more than a year ago after his contract was not renewed.  

Deputy Chief/Fire Marshal Steven Krol has been filling in as acting chief since Badamo’s departure. 

"The five members of the Board of Fire Commissioners are extremely pleased to welcome Rob Ross back to the role of chief," Gallitto says.

Ross was named to the chief’s post by a unanimous vote at a special meeting of the Fire Commission earlier this week. Gallitto says Ross was the top choice by a wide margin.  “In addition to his intimate knowledge of the South District Fire Department, Rob Ross brings to the chief’s position a level of experience and leadership unmatched by any of the other applicants,” Gallitto says.

Ross will be sworn in during a ceremony June 24 and begin work immediately. Although he's been away from the chief’s job for almost six years, Gallitto said the Commission expects him to “hit the deck running."  
Immediately, Ross will join the Commission in contract negotiations with IAFF Local 3918, the union representing district  firefighters.

Previously Ross was appointed Chief of the South District Fire Department in December 2005.  

He resigned in November 2007 after he was recruited by the state of Connecticut to serve as director of Fire, Emergency and Building Services of the Connecticut Department of Public Safety. That job later evolved into executive director of the Division of Fire Investigations and Statewide Emergency Telecommunications.  

Since November 2011, Ross has held the title of state fire marshal, overseeing operation of the Office of State Fire Marshal. He holds numerous state and national fire service certifications, including Fire Marshal/Fire Investigator, Arson Investigation, Certified Public Fire Educator and Fire Service Instructor. 

Ross began his fire service career with the Middletown Fire Department where he served for just shy of 22 years. He rose through the ranks of lieutenant and deputy chief, retiring in 2004 as chief of the department.  

He spent the year between his retirement from Middletown and his first appointment as chief at South District working for the University of Connecticut Homeland Security Education Center, where he served as Connecticut State Coordinator for a full-scale counterterrorism exercise involving local, state, federal and private sector agencies.

South Fire District is the largest in land area of Middletown’s three fire districts, encompassing 21 square miles, or half of Middletown’s 42 square miles.

The population of the district is just under 14,000 residents, but the daytime population of the district is substantially higher due to the largest concentration of medical offices in Middlesex County within the district along with Middlesex Community College and two of Middletown’s largest employers, Pratt and Whitney and Connecticut Valley Hospital.