Broad Experience
- Grew up in Willington
- Father of five school-age kids
- Hall Memorial School Class of 1981
- 40+ years in the Willington Hill Fire Department, including president and chief
- 24 year career firefighter
- Former Board of Finance Chair
- Former Selectman
- Former School Building Committee Chair
- Current Emergency Services Efficiency Committee member
- 275th Anniversary Committee member
- Former Deputy Fire Chief-University of Connecticut
- Former Construction Engineer- University of Connecticut
- Currently the full-time Fire Marshal for a large Eastern Connecticut Community
- Certified Fire Marshal and Building Inspector
- Associates degree-Charter Oak State University
Certifications/Licenses/Education:
Class A Commercial Driver’s License-CT
Emergency Medical Technician-CT
Fire Marshal-CT
Building Official-CT
Pesticide Commercial Operator-CT
OSHA 10 hour
Open Burning Official-CT
Fire Officer II-CT
Fire Service Instructor I-CT
Hazardous Materials Technician-CT
Education:
Bolton High School 1985
Charter Oak Community College A.S. 2022
About Mike
I have lived in Willington for 54 of my 58 years. My family moved to here in 1969. I attended Willington kindergarten in the fire station on Old Farms Road, then Center and Hall Memorial Schools, and graduated from Bolton High School in 1985. I was a Cub Scout and played in Willington Little League as well as Willington Soccer. In 1980, I joined Explorer’s Post 13, sponsored by Willington Fire Department #1, starting my Willington fire service volunteerism, still ongoing to this day, and having encompassed nearly every job description including President and 4 years as Fire Chief of the Willington Hill Fire Department.
During high school, I worked at West’s Tire Center (Where Dollar General is now) and West’s Garage, pumping gas, repairing cars, and driving the wreckers. After high school, I attended UConn and worked a student job as an emergency dispatcher, before the days of 911. After UConn, I continued working for West’s Garage until 1986, when I went to work full-time for Willington Termite and Pest Control, where I learned customer service skills and the value of having a professional network as we connected with realtors on inspections and business customers on preventing infestations across Eastern CT on a daily basis. In 1988, I started working for the State of Connecticut at the former Mansfield State Training School (MSTS). While I worked full time in Grounds and Transportation, I was also a per-diem firefighter on the MSTS Fire Department. During this time, I was adding certifications to my fire service resume and testing for a career firefighting job with the State.
As MSTS closed, I was transferred to UConn, working in building maintenance 91-94, when I was hired by the UConn Fire Department. This career took me through the ranks and allowed me many opportunities from oversight of the campus 911 center (where I had worked in 1985/86), oversight of all life safety programs and code compliance, control of emergency systems (fire alarm, sprinkler, emergency lights, fire extinguishers, etc) maintenance and capital development, and supervision of installation and maintenance of physical security systems, card access, campus camera system. I also represented the UConn Fire Department and sometimes all of Public Safety on campus wide and town/university committees such as Environmental Impact studies, campus safety committee, SARCCC-Space Allocation, Renovation, and Construction Coordinating Committee, PRC-Project Review Committee, ECT-Environmental Compliance Team, various Spring Weekend coordinating teams, etc. All of those roles carried across all UConn campuses and properties, over 600 buildings across the State of Connecticut. During these 24 years at the UConn Fire Department, I also responded to many thousands of medical service calls, fires, rescues, alarms, and hazardous materials leaks/spills/incidents. I was commanding officer over Spring Weekend (large scale social/celebratory event with high volumes of emergency medical and fire calls), many fires in occupied buildings, and notably the 2017 Landscape Barn Fire, one of the largest fires on campus ever.
Upon my retirement, with 29+ years, I went to work as a part-time employee, still at UConn. I finished software migrations in Public Safety and assisted in administrative projects for 11 months and then transferred to UPDC-University Planning, Design, and Construction, where I worked in Construction Engineering. My role was a mix of Contract Compliance/Assurance, Quality Assurance and Control, site safety, and infrastructure coordination for high voltage, fire protection, sewer, storm drainage, etc. My final large project in that role was the new UConn fire station, replacing the space I had worked in for 24 years.
Also during this time, I unexpectedly took on the role of board president of the Mansfield Discovery Depot early childhood education center, leading it through a severe financial crisis at the end of 2017, the replacement of a director through a national search, and the COVID pandemic.
In the spring of 2023, I was hired by the Town of Glastonbury to be their full-time Fire Marshal. I continue to participate across related industries, including consulting on fire and building code for architects and commercial building owners and marketing fire apparatus to fire departments in Southern CT and Eastern MA.
I have participated in many levels of local and regional emergency planning, chaired the board of finance, chaired the previous school building committee, served as a selectman, served on hiring committees in Willington, helped to specify and purchase multiple fire apparatus, and served on the town’s 275th anniversary committee in 2001/2002.
Since 2007, I have been raising my family in Willington with kids having attended Center School through E.O. Smith High School. This has drawn me to multiple related tasks such as the Hall School Drama Parents Booster Club, drama set-building groups, and class trip chaperone.
I hope that everything you have read here shows that I am “all in for Willington”, and am ready to jump in with both feet.