The city’s acting fire chief will retire from the Fire Department on March 17, according to Mayor Joseph J. Solomon.
Acting Fire Chief Marcel B. Fontenault Jr., 55, notified the administration of his plan to retire last week, Solomon said.
“He presented me with a letter,” Solomon said. “I accepted his papers. He put in a lot of years with the Fire Department.”
Solomon said Fontenault has basically covered three unfilled positions — chief, deputy chief and assistant chief — since he took command of the department around the time of Mayor Scott Avedisian’s departure last spring.
“He stepped up to the plate, he took the reins and he handled the job of three people,” Solomon said. “During my tenure as mayor, he has saved us a lot of money.”