Massachusetts

New Mass. fire marshal appointed, acting MEMA chief made permanent

Northampton's Jon Davine said he was "honored by the trust that the Fire Service Commission has placed in me to lead this vital agency," while Dawn Brantley was announced as the permanent leader of the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency

Jon Davine, Northampton's fire chief, was selected as Massachusetts’ next state fire marshal.
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Jon Davine, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who climbed the ranks of Northampton Fire Rescue to become the department's chief, will take over at the end of July as the Massachusetts fire marshal, the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security announced Tuesday.

The Fire Service Commission in June selected Davine, who has served as chief in Northampton since 2020, to succeed Fire Marshal Peter Ostroskey after about seven years on the job. The fire marshal serves as the head of the Department of Fire Services, an agency created in 1995 responsible for the coordination of fire service policy and operations. Davine starts July 31.

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"As a firefighter and a chief, I recognize and value the resources and support that the Department of Fire Services provides to Massachusetts fire departments every day," Davine said. "I'm honored by the trust that the Fire Service Commission has placed in me to lead this vital agency and the dedicated staff across all its divisions, who have given so much to the fire service and the Commonwealth."

Davine joined Northampton Fire Rescue as a firefighter in 1998 and rose through the ranks to positions of captain, deputy chief, assistant chief, and chief, EOPSS said. He also serves as the emergency manager for Northampton, as a Hazmat technician on the District 4 Hazardous Materials Response Team, and as a member of the Department of Fire Services' Joint Hazard Incident Response Team that works closely with the State Police bomb squad.

The Healey administration also announced Tuesday morning that Dawn Brantley will lead the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency on a more permanent basis. Brantley has been running MEMA as acting director since October 2021 and previously worked as MEMA's assistant director for planning and preparedness, led the state's COVID-19 isolation hotel program, and held emergency management positions at the federal level and in Virginia and Alaska.

"Dawn's specialized knowledge in crisis mitigation, pre-disaster planning, and improved outcomes will advance Massachusetts toward a more resilient and sustainable future," Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll said. "I am confident that under Dawn's leadership, the highly skilled MEMA team will continue to enhance emergency preparedness statewide by engaging municipal leaders across the state and help to ensure that our communities are weather-and-climate-ready."

As acting director of MEMA, the administration said that Brantley "led mass care response efforts for several temporary sheltering operations and secured New England's first-ever National Mass Care training exercise, scheduled to take place in Massachusetts in October 2023."

Copyright State House News Service
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