After spending nearly 40 years as the fire chief for the city of Bloomfield, George Duncan is set to retire next month.
Duncan said he wants to keep things low key as he exits the fire department he joined in 1971 when he was 20 years old. His last day will be Oct. 10.
“It’s time for me to just enjoy some other things — that’s it,” Duncan said.
Duncan also said he felt like he has had a great career and will miss working with his firefighters and the different city agencies.
Bloomfield Mayor Scott Eckstein said he has known Duncan about 30 years and described him as good friend and neighbor.
“He was fire chief when I was a Bloomfield police officer. He’s done an outstanding job,” Eckstein said. “He fights for his employees and his department to be better.”
A career highlight for Duncan was improving the Bloomfield Fire Department’s Insurance Service Office (ISO) classification to a Class 2, putting the department among the top 3 percent in the nation, he said. When he was hired as fire chief in 1976, the ISO rating was Class 9.