DeRosa Brings Experience, Qualifications as Chief

Though it's a bit more work at the moment, it's no surprise that Lou DeRosa is pulling double-duty in the Madison Fire Department. The acting, and soon-to-be official, chief of the department has always done a good job of wearing multiple hats.

DeRosa has been the acting chief since Doug Atchison ended his 19-year tenure on Wednesday, Jan. 27. He's also kept the responsibilities he had as captain, which he's hopeful he'll eventually be able to give someone else by promoting that person to captain.

Until then, DeRosa, who will officially become chief on July 31, will fulfill the duties of the chief as well as those of captain, such as being the building fire subcode official, making sure that new buildings in the borough are going up properly to making sure the structures are fire safe.

And DeRosa is more than suited for the job. The son of an electrical worker, though he says he really got his technical skills from his mother, DeRosa found the same type of work interesting. Though his career path may have been through the fire department, DeRosa has his electrical contractor's license.

"My dad used to tell me, 'find something you love to do and find a way to get paid for it.' It gets in your blood," DeRosa said of the fire department. "I love electric work, but I really love the fire service."

Father Louie DeRosa, Jr. and mother Alice raised Lou DeRosa, the oldest of four siblings, in Madison from Day 1. Alice's father, Peter Sena, Sr., was a rose grower in the Rose City, while Louie Jr.'s family came from West Virginia, working in the coal industry that characterized Morgantown. Louie Jr. was one of 15 siblings and Alice was one of 10 in large Italian families.

So it's no wonder then that Lou DeRosa's interaction with people is part of what has shaped his life to date.

DeRosa joined the Madison Fire Department as a volunteer in the fall of 1977 after graduating in the spring.

"Danny (Phillips) was the one who got me hooked," DeRosa said. "We knew of each other. He had gotten married, he lived in the apartment next door to my parents' house. We knew of each other through high school and kind of befriend ourselves from across the fence. Seeing what he was doing, it seemed very intriguing. ... It seemed like something that looked like it would be rewarding and fun to do. And that's why we did it, never thinking of a career."

It was about another six years when DeRosa became a probationary fire fighter on the career division of the department. There were some who told DeRosa that he'd make more money in the electrical field, especially if he opened his own business. However, his electrical background actually helped him get to where he is today, including more recently helping with the construction of the Public Safety Complex.

"Your path in life, you have different stops and you learn different things, and that construction background and electrical background gave me a good insight and advantage when this building was going together, as to things being done and how we wanted it to be done to get our quality end result," DeRosa said. "I had a good working rapport with the working contractors that were here. Without that construction and electrical background, I would have been a fish out of water."

That background really helped out when DeRosa was captain, a position he was appointed to in 1992 when Doug Atchison was named chief.

The first major new building project DeRosa had to deal with was the biggest he'd have during his time as captain. Of the two captains on the department, it was DeRosa's role to be the fire subcode official for the borough. Luckily for Madison, DeRosa had also obtained his subcode license before becoming captain to go along with his electrical contractor's license.

DeRosa said that American Home Products moved in soon after he became captain. The building that has since housed Wyeth and now Pfizer is more than a million square feet of offices and parking garage.

"All I can say again is thank God I had that construction background," DeRosa said. "... When it was being built and constructed it was on a fast track project. They had wanted to be out of New York City by a certain date. Maybe that project should have taken over three years to come out of the ground; they did it in half the time.

"It was a huge facility and I was as green as green can be. I had an understanding of the codes, but it was a challenge. I leaned on Doug at that time and a few others, but talk about jumping in the deep end. ... but we came through that one fine."

He said he learned a lot from that project, which is one of the biggest facilities in Madison.

Some of the people DeRosa met during his career have helped make his work, and that of the department, stronger. One of those was a retired Newark fire chief who DeRosa met while working on the reconstruction of Drew University's administrative building, a project that turned out to be a difficult one. DeRosa also met two other individuals who came to check over the Drew project who eventually asked him to serve on the Code Advisory Board for New Jersey. DeRosa joined the board in 1994 and has served ever since.

"The networking of people you meet, the professionals that I work with, it's like the cream of the crop in the construction code business,"DeRosa said.

He also became part of the New Jersey Urban Search and Rescue task force based out of Lakehurst naval base. Again, DeRosa was part of an elite group where he could bounce ideas with highly-qualified individuals. DeRosa's first deployment with the force was to New York City for the 9/11 attacks.

"That was an incredible event, if you want to say a life altering event seeing that," DeRosa said. "We were on the ground in New York City that night, in the event for the first nine days. It was a powerful, powerful thing."

The knowledge he has gained over the years in these different groups has given him experience for the challenges at hand as chief.

DeRosa said there won't be many changes in the department now that he is the chief. He and Atchison had a very close working relationship and DeRosa said he has an "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" thought process heading in.

He also said that although he'll miss tremendously the ability to go into a working fire with his men–he says it's to the point where he and the others can understand what's going on by the tone of their voices over the radio–that his experiences in those situations will only make him a stronger chief.

When DeRosa is sworn in, he'll have the support of his wife Kathleen and his three children. But he knows his biggest fan will be watching from elsewhere. DeRosa's mother and father died about two months apart in 2008. As the first Italian chief of the department–he was also the first Italian hired on the career division–he knows they would have been proud.

"My mom was my biggest fan and supporter throughout my whole career," DeRosa said. "It's always neat to have mom say to you, "good job." She's not here to say it now. I know she's here and I miss her.

"But she was funny. Even (Madison Borough Administrator) Ray Codey will tell you. We were at my dad's funeral, and we're at the wake and Ray came through and she pulls him aside and says, 'when are you going to make my son chief?' " Doug (Atchison) wasn't even thinking of retiring at that time. But that's the way she was."

And now it is her son who is head of the department.