Burlington Fire Departments Promotes Two of its Own

The main hearing room at was packed with family, friends and fellow fire fighters on Monday, June 25 as the Board of Selectmen voted to approve the promotion of two members of the . 

Department member Andy Connerty was promoted to Fire Training Captain and Jack Walthall was promoted to Fire Lieutenant. The board, impressed with the credentials of the newly-promoted members, voted to waive the 15-day waiting period that is normally a condition of new appointments. 

The two were promoted at the recommendation of Chief Steve Yetman. The chief explained that there were two applicants for each position and the only difficulty in the process was choosing between four highly-qualified and capable members of his team. 

"Everyone who applied was completely capable," Yetman said. "I'm proud of the high-caliber of all four of them." 

Connerty, who was raised in Burlington and is a member of Burlington High School Class of 1985, first joined the force in 1993 as a member of the dispatch team. He became a firefighter in 1994 and a lieutenant in 2004. Connerty said he is looking forward to taking on the Training Captain position.

"I hope I do as well a job as those who have been in the post in the past," he said. 

Connerty said he wanted to thank Lt. Rob Paul, who has been acting Training Captain for the past six months. 

"Lt. Paul did a great job," he said, adding he also acknowledged Assistant Chief Mike Patterson, who held the position before being promoted to his current position. 

Walthall, a lifelong Burlington resident and a member of BHS Class of 1994, first joined the force in 2002. He said he is pleased with his new position. 

"I'm very happy and proud to become a lieutenant in the Burlington Fire Department," he said. "I look forward to the new challenges of the job."