On Jan. 31 inside the Public Safety Complex, the Greenwich Fire Department welcomed four new recruits into the ranks.
Kyle Matthews, Forrest Armitage, Nick Reisman and Greg Brown were all sworn-in by First Selectman and Fire Commissioner, Peter Tesei. The recruits will fill the vacancies left by retired firefighters Rick Hayes, Terry Murphy and Chris Kear, and retired Deputy Fire Marshal, Rich Funck.
Although the retirees had 110 years worth of experience between them, GFD chief Peter Siecienski is confident the new recruits will represent the department and the town well.
“You’ve probably had many jobs up to this point, but this is a career, and with that career comes expectations,” Siecienski said to the recruits. “Those expectations are that you are dedicated, loyal and you’re compassionate to the residents and citizens of the town of Greenwich, to your fellow firefighters and to your families. That will be your measured benchmark.”
The recruits went through a rigorous selection process over the past few years. 500 or so applicants were filtered through a written test, oral panel, background checks, psychological profiles and a department interview.