By JOSEPH KELLARD
Last week, Colon raised his right hand and swore to uphold the duties of IPFD chief ‹ and one of his goals is to beef up the youth program that gave him his start.
Colon, who was sworn in at IPFD headquarters on Long Beach Road on April 9, told the Herald that recruiting more 14- to 18-year-olds to become Jr. firemen is part of his broader plan to improve the department.
³The department is always a work in progress, and what I¹d like to do most is bring the members closer together and bring the community closer to the department and have more community interaction,² Colon said. ³I¹d also like to have more training and pre-planning for any kind of catastrophic situations.²
Colon looks forward to attempting to develop closer ties with the people that he and his department serve, particularly during the IPFD¹s annual community events like the Junior Fire Tournament and open house at the firehouse in June, and when he speaks to students at local schools about fire prevention and safety each October.
³Rich is dedicated, he¹s got his mind set as to where he wants to go, he¹s got a vision for the department¹s future,² said Anthony D¹Esposito, Colon¹s cousin and a lieutenant with the IPFD¹s Hook and Ladder Co. ³He wants to make it better, not only just for the members in it, but also for the people that live in Island Park.²
Currently a sergeant with the New York City Police Department, Colon was 15 when he joined the Junior Firemen, a program for teens who receive basic training in firefighting and participate in firehouse activities. Colon¹s dad, Ruben, an ex-captain, inspired him to enroll in the program. ³My father was a member of the department, so I basically grew up around it,² he said.
When he turned 18 in 1993, Colon rolled right over into a regular volunteer firefighter with the Hook & Ladder Co. Five years later, he became the company¹s lieutenant, and two years after that he earned the rank of captain. In 2000, Colon was elected 3rd assistant chief.
He joined the 100th Precinct in Corona, Queens, in March 2002, and in October 2005 was promoted to sergeant at the 69th Precinct in Canarsie, Brooklyn, where he works today. Colon married Michelle Stazione of Commack in September 2005, and the couple had a boy, Nicholas, last October.
What does he enjoy most about being a volunteer firefighter? ³First, helping the community,² Colon said, ³and the camaraderie and the action, the training, the adrenaline that comes with it.²
³Rich is going to be a good chief,² said ex-Chief Robert Wells, who preceded Colon. ³He was my first assistant chief last year, and he and all my other assistants were easy to work with.²
Under Wells, the IPFD received a grant that the department used to purchase an air refilling station this year. During Wells¹s one-year term the department fought about eight major fires in town, including the blaze that destroyed the building housing Sea Coast Realty on Austin Boulevard in February. Colon said the department will apply for various grants in 2007, and, if issued, may purchase a portable simulator smoke house.
³Anything to promote fire prevention would be a big help for us,² the new chief said.
Comments about this story? JKellard@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 287.
