Simsbury Volunteer Fire Company Officer Promotions

With the retirement of 1st Assistant Chief Patrick Tourville after 22 years of service, Fire Chief James Baldis of the Simsbury Volunteer Fire Company has announced several promotions.

2nd Assistant Chief Jason Gilbert will move up to 1st Assistant Chief in charge of personnel while Main station’s captain, Kristin Kelley, will step up to 2nd Assistant Chief in charge of training.

Captain Mike Brown of Tariffville station will become 2nd Assistant Chief in charge of firefighting equipment and safety while Lt. Jeff Holmes moves from Tariffville station to Captain of Main station.

At the promotion ceremony, Baldis said, “As we celebrate our 75th anniversary, the promotions of 1st Assistant Chief Gilbert, 2nd Assistant Chief Kelley and 2nd Assistant Chief Brown bring forward the next generation of executive leadership to key positions in personnel, training and safety. We also are pleased to see the ongoing development of our station officers, which allowed for the promotion of Captain Holmes to command the Main station.”

Gilbert, Kelley, Brown and Holmes all joined the Fire Company as junior firefighters, Gilbert in 1997, Kelley in 1995, Brown in 1994 and Holmes in 2004.

All the chief officers are certified to the level of Firefighter II, Hazardous Materials Operational, Fire Officer I, Fire Service Instructor II and possess a State of Connecticut driver’s license with an endorsement to drive fire apparatus as well as having a management or supervisory course. Holmes will obtain certification as Fire Service Instructor II by the end of 2020.