The Tilton-Northfield Fire District ended Michael Sitar, Jr.’s employment as fire chief earlier this month, officials said.
The Fire Commission held a meeting on Nov. 5 where it executed a separation agreement with Sitar, effective immediately. The district did not comment on the details of the decision, according to a statement.
“The Fire Commission would like to thank Chief Sitar for his many years of dedicated service to the towns of Tilton and Northfield,” the district said in the statement. “During his tenure, Chief Sitar made significant improvements to enhance the safety of the district and its residents.”
Sitar served as fire chief since 2014, and previously worked with the Tewksbury Fire Department in Massachusetts for over 30 years. He said his grandfather, father and uncle were firefighters, he served alongside his brother in Tewksbury and his son currently works at the Bedford Fire Department.
Since he joined Tilton-Northfield Fire, Sitar said he increased staffing and training, improved revenue through ambulance billing and helped manage a 1,000-call increase over his tenure.
“We’ve grown quite a bit,” he said.
Sitar said he had been planning to retire from the service in May, but the commission indicated to him that they were looking for new leadership in the new year. Still, he found the decision “a little disappointing” given he couldn’t retire in his timeframe.
“It was just kind of sudden,” he said. “You go to work every single day, and all of a sudden you’re not going to work every single day. That sudden change in your routine, it takes a little getting used to reorganizing.”
The commission appointed Sean Valovanie as interim fire chief to oversee operations as it seeks out a new hire. Valovanie declined to comment past the statement.
The towns of Tilton and Northfield, which had no influence on the decision, declined to comment.
Sitar said many of the firefighters he worked with have called and texted him after the decision, expressing how they will miss him, which he found “gratifying.” He said that he hopes the department can hire new personnel to meet increased call volumes.
“I had a very successful career,” Sitar said. “I’m unaware that anything that I did was wrong … the commissioners just, at the time, said they wanted to start the new year with a new chief, and that’s all that I got from them in that respect.”
