Patch Q&A: Easton Fire Chief Kevin Partridge

Patch recently sat down with the Easton Fire Chief.

Please join us in celebrating the return of Patch Q&A: a feature in which we allow you to get to know the movers and shakers that help make Easton tick. Today we'll feature Easton Fire Chief Kevin Partridge, who took over in January for outoging Chief Thomas Stone. Patch: Why did you decide to become a firefighter? Partridge: I was 17 years old and I had an interest. I didn’t have anyone in my family who was in it but for some reason I had an interest in being a firefighter when I saw fire trucks drive by as a kid. I found out about the fire department I lived in in Swansea. It was volunteer and I had to be 18. So, in the meantime, I got into an EMT training class and got an EMT license. Before I got the license I did get in as a volunteer…

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Microwave Fire Sends Easton Resident to Hospital

Easton, Norton and Mansfield Fire Departments responded to Foundry Street Wednesday

A microwave fire hit a Foundry Street home Wednesday afternoon, resulting in a trip to the hospital for an Easton resident and an estimated $20,000 worth of damage. Charles Salamone, of 785 Foundry Street, told Fire Chief Kevin Partridge that he melted butter in the microwave prior to the fire occurring. After he had taken the butter out of the microwave, he heard a pop and then noticed smoke and fire in the microwave. He attempted to extinguish the fire with a fire extinguisher, Partridge said in a statement. Salamone lives in an in law apartment. The fire set off smoke detectors, which awoke his daughter in-law, Victoria Salamone, in the other section of the house. She called 911. A Norton engine, Easton engine and Mansfield ladder truck…

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Muscato's Musings

Firefighting Is In His Blood

Easton Fire Chief Tom Stone Retires Tomorrow Following 33 Years of Service to the Town of Easton

  Earlier this month, Easton Patch editor, Patrick Maguire, wrote an excellent story on the career of Easton Fire Chief, Tom Stone, who is retiring tomorrow after more than three decades on the job.     As well, in this space, I wanted to write about Chief Stone on the occasion of his retirement.    I have known Tom Stone, it seems, my entire life – and the Stone family and my family go a ways back in town, and have had a good and strong relationship and a shared experience of civic involvement here. Perhaps it was inevitable that Tom Stone became a firefighter in Easton – and one day the chief of the towns’ fire department.  For firefighting is in the Stone family lineage, its culture, and its history. Chief Stone’s great grandfather, …

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Stone's Tenure 'An Honor and a Pleasure', He Says

The outgoing fire chief looks back at 33 years of Service

  Emergency phone calls are commonplace in Easton. Every day there are medical emergencies, car accidents, gas leaks or fires. The call is sent through dispatch to responding firefighters and police officers, who head to the scene with the intention to help whoever is in trouble. For Fire Chief Tom Stone, helping people who are in distress is what he will miss most. "Usually when people call you, they’re having the worst day of their life," he said. "It’s rewarding that when you can respond to their need or put them at ease, eliminate their problem, or change their situation so that they’re at least feeling more comfortable." Stone will end his 33-year career with the Easton Fire Department this month. Former Avon and Berkley chief Kevin …

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Easton Selectmen Ratify Contract for Partridge

New Easton Fire chief to start on Jan. 16

  Selectmen unanimously approved a three-year employment contract for the town’s new Fire Chief, Kevin Partridge, on Friday, during a special meeting of the Board. Partridge, who is leaving his job as Director of Homeland Security for the Massachusetts Department of Fire Services, will begin work on Jan. 16. Town Administrator David Colton said the start date allows Partridge to work in tandem with current Fire Chief Thomas Stone, who will be retiring on Jan. 26. “There will be a two-week transition period, so that Kevin Partridge will be able to meet the rank and file and work on budget issues with Chief Stone,” Colton said. Town Administrator David Colton announced Wednesday that he wanted to hire Partridge out of a pool of four …

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New Easton Fire Chief Ready For a Challenge

After working for the state, new fire chief Kevin Partridge is ready to get back to public safety in Easton.

After working for the state as the Director of Homeland Security for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Fire Services, Kevin Partridge says he is ready to get back to doing what he enjoys most - providing public safety. "I was ready to get back into being in a fire department," he said Thursday. "A lot of what I did with the Department of Fire Services was involved with the fire services, but it wasn’t on the street providing public safety. I miss that and I’m looking forward to getting back." Town Administrator David Colton announced Wednesday Partridge would be Thomas Stone's successor as Easton's new fire chief. It will be the first time Easton has seen a new head of the department since nine years ago when Stone, a 33-year…

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Former Berkley, Avon Chief Named as New Easton Fire Chief

Kevin P. Partridge was named the new Easton Fire Chief Wednesday

Kevin P. Partridge will take over as the new Easton Fire Chief, Town Administrator David Colton said in a statement Wednesday afternoon. Partridge currently works for the State Fire Marshal as the Director of Homeland Security for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Fire Service. Partridge, a Berkley resident who lives with his wife Janet and their two sons John and Nicholas, is also the former Fire Chief in Berkley and Avon. He has served as the Town Moderator in Berkley and he has attended of the National Fire Academy, Executive Fire Officer Program and Bristol Community College. Partridge's hiring comes after Fire Chief Tom Stone announced his retirement after nine years as the fire chief and 33 years of service. His final …

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