(From left) Chief David Eiffe, Assistant Chief Shane Laws, and Captain Adam Howard after being sworn in to their new positions in the Fulton Fire Department.
FULTON, NY – The three newest leaders of the Fulton Fire Department were officially sworn in to their new positions Thursday evening (June 29.)
The ceremony came following the retirement of former fire chief Paul Foster effective the same day whose 32 years of service is included in a total of 155 years of experience retiring from the FFD within the week.
Family, friends, community members, and fellow firefighters gathered together as the FFD swore in a new chief, assistant chief, and captain.
David Eiffe, now chief, has swiftly climbed the ranks within the department since he was hired in 1999.
Eiffe was first promoted to leuitenent in 2006, became captain in 2012, and assistant chief in 2015 before working his way to the newly official title of Fulton Fire Chief.
“It was always a dream to be a firefighter and when they called, it was like a dream come true,” he said of accepting his position with the Fulton Fire Department nearly 18 years ago.
His desire to serve the community as a firefighter was long running, he said, as his tangible memory serves back to the third grade.
“My third grade yearbook says ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ and it says ‘firefighter’ next to my name so I kind of feel like I was meant to do this,” the new chief said.
Eiffe’s mother recalled his wish to be a firefighter at a young age as well, proud of her son for achieving his dreams in life.
“He’s very special in our family and we are just so happy for him,” Nancy Eiffe said of her son, David, calling him a real “jack of all trades.”
Chief Eiffe will become the ninth chief in FFD history since its official formation in 1904, replacing the most recent former chief Paul Foster who served the Fulton community through the fire department since 1985.
“I’m looking forward to affecting more change,” Chief Eiffe said, who has goals to increase the department’s specialized training and increase the value of the department in the sense of what can be handled in house.
He is interested in bringing back “former teams that have gone by the wayside” to allow response to things such as hazardous material response and specialized rescue.
Currently, one of the things Eiffe is most proud of in his years with the department is his commitment to providing new equipment through grant opportunities.
“We’ve got more new equipment now than we’ve ever had thanks to grant writing and I’m proud that I had a lot to do with that,” he said.
But the challenges facing the department will continue as leadership positions change hands.
“Honestly, the challenges that are ahead are significant,” he said, citing several changes within the department enacted based on a recent minimum staffing change within a new contract between the department’s union representatives and the city of Fulton.
“So there’s still challenges ahead,” he said, while taking the time thank former Chief Foster for his service to the city. “I’m looking to start a new chapter. I’m my own person and as long as I have the responsibility for everybody going home (safely) then we’re going to do things to make sure that happens.”
Shane Laws entered the FFD in 1999 when he began working his way through the ranks to lieutenant and then captain before getting promoted to his new position as assistant chief.
“I’m excited, nervous, a little overwhelmed. As captain, I only had to worry about eight guys, now I worry about the whole department so it’s a different mindset,” Laws said of his position.
But his commitment to serve is very much so “in his blood” his family says, having began his work as a firefighter at the age of 16 in Granby following in the footsteps of his father who was involved in the same department and even serving as the current Deputy Fire Coordinator for Battalion 1 for the county.
“It’s something I’ve always thrived to do, and I’ve enjoyed it all along,” he said, looking forward to beginning his new position with a commitment to protecting the community.
“We’d like to restore morale and make sure the citizens of the city are protected to the best of our ability. Even though we have lost over 100 years of experience we’ve still got a lot of guys that are young, willing, and able to perform their duties so we’re going to move them along in regards to their training and make sure our citizens are protected 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.”
Starting his career in 2000, Adam Howard was promoted to lieutenant in January 2016 and quickly promoted again to his current captain position.
“I’m feeling proud, I’m feeling ambitious,” he said of his new position. “I like to do the job and do the job well. I look forward to working with an outstanding department and working with my crew to train and maintain a state of readiness.”
The recurring theme of the night centered around ensuring the commitment to protect the Fulton community at all costs remained in tact as the department underwent a large transition in leadership.
“We’re a small department in comparison to most career departments in the state of New York but we’re second to none when it comes to our people and the professionalism that they display and the quality of people we have. I’d put them up against anybody and I’m speaking that as truth – they’re good people. It’s been said: ‘An indication of a good leader is the people underneath him.’ Well in that case, it’s going to be pretty tough for me to fail,” new chief David Eiffe said.
With that, each new position was sworn in to officially begin their new roles in the Fulton Fire Department.
missing or outdated ad config
