Walpole Deputy Chief Named New Stoughton Fire Chief

Image Credit: Stoughton Media Access Corporation

STOUGHTON, MA - A Foxborough man with nearly three decades of experience has been chosen to lead the Stoughton Fire Department.

Mike Laracy was introduced by Town Manager Mike Hartman as the new Stoughton Fire Chief at Tuesday evening’s selectmen meeting.

Laracy currently serves as the deputy chief of the Walpole Fire Department. Prior to coming to Walpole in 2005, he spent 19 years as a member of the Foxborough Fire Department, leaving in a senior position and as a paramedic.

“I look forward to the challenges of Stoughton. I’ve heard nothing but god things about the town, about the fire department, and I know we have some challenges ahead of us but working as a team we can overcome theses challenges and move on,” Laracy said Tuesday night.

The new chief said he recently completed a new program to be credentialed by the state to be a fire chief and participated in the National Fire Academy’s four-year executive officer program.

Laracy, who is also the town’s emergency management director, holds a master’s degrees in emergency management from Mass. Maritime Academy and sits on a regional Norfolk County committee for emergency planning. He said it is his goal to get Stoughton to join the group.

The selectmen had nothing but good things to say to Laracy.

“You were the first choice, I’m glad he got his man. You have a board that wants you here. This board will back you with most of the stuff you need,” Selectman Richard Cohn said.

Laracy will start on April 11, with a formal swearing-in ceremony to take place on April 19.