Capt. Jim Blanchfield was elevated to deputy fire chief of the Wilton Fire Department on July 1, beginning his journey toward becoming chief when interim Chief Geoff Herald steps down on Nov. 1. Blanchfield was named to the position, which has been empty for 17 months, on June 19.
A small crowd of fire service and police personnel assembled at the firehouse Wednesday morning for the “pinning ceremony” as Herald offered a few words.
“This is a momentous occasion, both for Jim personally and for the department,” he said. “It’s a rare thing historically for somebody to start off as a volunteer, come into a career department and work his way up through the ranks and come in to a command assignment, which is what Captain, now Deputy Chief Blanchfield has done.