Bloomfield rises to Wantagh fire chief

Seeing his father ride out of the station on the big red fire trucks had a big impact on Jim Bloomfield when he was a child.

Now, Bloomfield is the chief of the Wantagh Fire Department, a position he has held since March. His elevation to the post was about nine months sooner than expected. He was previously the first assistant chief.

Bloomfield, a Wantagh High School graduate, joined the Fire Department when he was 18, signing up to become a member of Ladder Company No. 1 at the headquarters on Park Avenue. He became lieutenant, then served as captain of his company from 2004-07. Since being elected third assistant chief, he has been moving up the department’s ranks.

“I grew up with the Fire Department,” said Bloomfield, who now has 20 years of service as a volunteer in Wantagh. “I grew up seeing my father, my grandfather going out on calls.”

His father, Pete, is still a member of the Wantagh Fire Department, and his younger brother, Tommy, was recently elected third assistant chief to fill the vacancy in the ranks.

Bloomfield is now commander of one of Nassau County’s largest fire departments, which not only covers Wantagh, but also parts of Seaford, Levittown and Bellmore, as well as Jones and Tobay beaches. There are about 250 volunteers who respond from five fire stations.

As chief, Bloomfield will be working closely with the Board of Fire Commissioners, and officers in other departments. He said that Wantagh has always been viewed throughout the county as a progressive department, and he wants that reputation to continue. Bloomfield noted the assets that Wantagh has that other departments rely upon such as haz-mat, incident management and dive teams.

Wantagh is dedicated to getting the best and most up-to-date equipment, he said, to ensure safety of residents and its members. He also wants to ensure that the best trained firefighters and medics are answering calls in the fire district.

Protecting his volunteers is Bloomfield’s top concern as chief. “At the end of the day,” he said, “I want them to return to their families in one piece.”

Another one of Bloomfield’s goals is recruitment. In a day when people are often working two jobs or have numerous family obligations, he says there is a need to increase the ranks of the department.

He also wants to continue the department’s fire prevention efforts, which include the annual open house, school visits and other community outreach. He noted that the number of serious fires has gone down in recent years, a credit to these efforts, stronger building codes and raised consciousness of fire safety among the general public.

Bloomfield said he wants to step up the department’s social media presence as a way of communicating with the public.

A couple of big fires stand out during Bloomfield’s two decades in the department. He remembers one house fire in the Forest City neighborhood, which was so intense it melted the side of the fire truck. Pulling up to a burning house in the Forest Lake neighborhood, with an elderly couple trapped inside, also sticks out. After several attempts, they were successfully rescued.

Outside of the fire district, he remembers Wantagh assisting at last year’s Island Recreational blaze in North Massapequa, and at a large brush fire in Kings Park.

Bloomfield, married with three children, works for a federal law enforcement agency and is an adjunct professor of criminal justice at Nassau Community College. He is a scoutmaster, and coaches soccer, lacrosse and baseball. “You have to be an excellent time management person,” he said of being chief, and having career and family obligations.

Upon becoming chief, Bloomfield said he received advice from several of his predecessors. The common message was that while everyone might not agree with his decisions, he must do what he believes is in the best interests of the department and its members, and is based on reliable information.