Crime & Safety

Utica Hires 5 New Firefighters

For the first time since Utica Fire Chief took office more than three years ago, he has hired new firefighters—not just one but five.

Four new firefighters were sworn in at the April 12 . A fifth was unable to attend the meeting, but will be sworn in soon.

The new firefighters are Tom Fortunate, who previously worked three years for the city of Center Line; Andrew McClure, who graduated from the Macomb Community College Fire Academy in 2008 and also works as an EMT at Alliance Mobile Health; paramedic Matt Myers, who is a new firefighter; and Brian Posluszny, a graduate of the Detroit EMS Academy and an ER paramedic at St. John Hospital in Detroit.

Cory Jezak, who was not at the swearing in, is a new firefighter as well, according to Utica Fire Chief Kevin Wilseck.

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The five new firefighters are the first hires made by Chief Wilseck since he came on board three years ago.

“I’m glad we’re able to increase our manpower,” said Wilseck, who noted the medical training the new recruits have. “We’ll be able to improve our ambulance response time.”

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The firefighters, who will be paid on an on-call basis, must complete an orientation that begins April 21 before they are allowed to go on runs. Throughout the next year, they will undergo “constant training,” according to Wilseck.

Fire Captain Bernard Hurchalla said the department was fortunate to be in the position to hire them as it really needs the help. “We’ll get them trained really fast,” he said.

McClure, one of the new hires, said he had heard the Utica Fire Department had a family-like atmosphere. “I wanted to work in a small community were people know each other,” he said. “Utica seems like a great place to start my career as a firefighter.”


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