If he had stayed with his first course of study, Fire Chief Kevin Partridge would have had a long career as an electrical engineer.
Instead, after starting as a volunteer firefighter in Swansea in 1984 and switching his major to fire science, Partridge, 55, is in the midst of a long fire safety career spanning over 35 years, the last nine of which have been spent serving as Easton’s chief.
“I had a friend who was looking into joining the volunteer fire department (in Swansea) and told me about it,” Partridge said. “One of the volunteers, who is now my brother-in-law, lived in our neighborhood. Once I got in Swansea, I took a whole bunch of firefighter classes.”
Since then the Berkley resident has served in many capacities in the field, beginning with his first full- time job as firefighter/EMT in Berkley in 1986. After seven years, he became the town’s fire chief when he was just 27 years old.