One month after Doug Mumford retired as Hopkinton’s fire chief, interim Chief Shawn Murray said his transition has been smooth and department members have been “very accommodating.”
Murray, a consultant for Municipal Resources Inc., will serve as interim chief for about a year to 18 months while the town searches for a permanent replacement. Until then, Murray hopes to help the department “modernize” its management systems and practices, while identifying potential leaders within the firehouse.
“When I leave here, I hope we have an organization that is cohesive, works as a team and develops leadership,” he told the Monitor last week.
Murray, a former Goffstown fire captain and Hudson chief, has worked in New Hampshire fire departments for 24 years and is a former president of the New Hampshire Fire Chiefs Association.
Murray knew the late Hopkinton fire chief Richard Schaefer, who died of a sudden heart attack in the midst of the 2012 Hopkinton State Fair, through his participation with the fire chiefs association.
“I know Hopkinton; I knew Rick,” Murray said. “I went to his funeral out of respect, and I followed the fire department from there.”
After retiring from Hudson in 2013, Murray spent a year with the Massachusetts Fire Academy. He then joined MRI and was placed in a Rhode Island department in 2015 where, as an interim chief, he helped the bankrupt fire department get back on track.
With Contoocook’s recently renovated firehouse, Murray said the station already has the facility and equipment of a modern department.
“Not many communities have this,” he said. “The trucks are in good shape and we have a great building. Now we can focus on the people.”
Murray said MRI can help a town in transition by bringing in a skilled chief with experience in departments that combine full-time and call firefighters. The department has four full-time firefighters, and, according to its website roster, there are 40 call firefighters.
“We’ll take an unbiased look at the organization and do it in a non-political environment,” Murray said. “In a year, year and a half, I am positive we will see the department going in the right direction. . . . They want leadership, accountability and structure.”
Mumford and Murray met before the retiring chief left and discussed the state of the department. Murray declined to share the details of their conversation, but said Mumford was “very cooperative” and the conversation was productive.
One of the notable aspects of Hopkinton’s fire department is its emphasis on having trained paramedics and providing an ambulance service. In the firehouse, any civilian can come by if he or she feels unwell, such as with chest pains or high blood pressure, and the department has the equipment to monitor the individual and transport them to a hospital if necessary.
All of the department’s full-time firefighters are either certified paramedics or have intermediate EMT certification.
“The department is far enough away from the hospital that it needs to provide this service,” Murray said.
“The paramedics here are very skilled,” he added, citing a response to a cardiac arrest in town last week. “It was seamless how the guys were handling it.”
MRI is a municipal consultation service that offers support in various areas of local government, such as public safety, schools and town administration. The company’s New England office is located in Meredith.
The town posted an opening for a full-time firefighter/EMT on its website last week. The department is still accepting applications. Visit Hopkinton-NH.gov for more information.
(Nick Stoico can be reached at 369-3309, nstoico@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @NickStoico.)