After the departure of Canterbury fire chief Guy Newbery to serve as interim chief in Concord, the town will hold off on hiring a new part-time fire chief until after town meeting, town administrator Ken Folsom said.
Folsom said that until March at the earliest, Canterbury firefighter and paramedic Scott Doherty and Captain Nick Baker will split the chief’s operational and administrative duties.
They will be paid an hourly rate of $20 an hour for time spent on chief’s duties, in addition to their regular stipend for training and responding to emergency calls, Folsom said.
Newbery started as interim fire chief in Concord on Dec. 23, leaving Canterbury after 2½ years on the job. He replaced Dan Andrus, who retired this month after 11 years with the Concord Fire Department.
Newbery previously served with the Concord Fire Department for 35 years before retiring in 2015. He began as part-time chief in Canterbury in September 2017, Folsom said.
Folsom said part of town officials’ motivation in waiting to post the position was to see if Newbery might be available to come back to Canterbury after his time in Concord, Folsom said.
“We figure we’d wait a couple of months and see how things play out with Guy in Concord,” he said.
“I don’t know if he would come back. If given the opportunity, I think he would. This is something that came out of blue for everybody here, as well as him,” he added, about the interim chief position.
Newbery was working 32 hours a week for the Canterbury Fire Department making $35,000 a year while collecting a pension of $101,106 from the New Hampshire Retirement System.
To serve as interim chief in Concord, Newbery came out of retirement. Newbery’s salary as interim chief will be $127,338 a year, according to the city.
Folsom said Newbery will carry on as a volunteer for the department working a couple of hours a week at a maximum to help manage grants the town has received for the fire department. This fall, the Canterbury Fire Department received a $105,678 grant from the federal Assistance to Firefighters Grant program for the purchase of new breathing apparatus.
Newbery won’t be responsible for responding to calls in Canterbury, Folsom said.
During his tenure with Concord Fire, Newbery progressed through the ranks of the organization to serve as Acting Deputy Chief, Fire Marshall, and Battalion Chief.