When he was 3 years old, Timothy Willis wanted to be a fire truck.
Realizing that just wasn’t possible, he went for the next best thing; by the time he was 14, Willis had become a junior volunteer firefighter. Now, 21 years later, the 35-year old Seymour native was named the town’s new fire marshal this week, having been recommended for the job by the Board of Fire Commissioners. The Board of Selectmen unanimously approved Willis’ promotion during a meeting Tuesday. Willis has served as deputy fire marshal for nearly a decade, and will replace longtime Fire Marshal Paul Wetowitz, who will retire March 29 after serving nearly 20 years in the post, and more than four decades in emergency services. Willis said working alongside Wetowitz for the past decade has given him the experience and education necessary to step into the full-time job, which comes with an annual salary of $72,967. The fire marshal’s job, in part, entails investigations and causes of fires, building inspections, code enforcement and reviewing new construction plans.