By WHAV Staff |
Incoming Haverhill Fire Chief Robert M. O’Brien. (Courtesy photograph.)
Haverhill Deputy Fire Chief Robert M. O’Brien will succeed William F. Laliberty as fire chief.
O’Brien was appointed by Mayor James J. Fiorentini and has already been asked to hire women and recruit minorities. He is scheduled to be sworn in during a ceremony Monday morning at the Water Street Fire Station. The mayor said he believes O’Brien will continue the progress on upgrading fire stations, replacing fire trucks and other equipment and lifting firefighter morale.
“After spending many hours in interviews, I am confident that Deputy Chief Robert O’Brien has the necessary skill set to continue this progress and move the department forward. He is already familiar with every man in the department, and with the fire plans for every large building in the city. He is ready to go on day one. He fully understands the Fire Department and firefighting and will fight to keep the people in
Upcoming retirements mean major changes in the leadership of Haverhill’s public safety departments.
Two recruitment efforts are already underway in City Hall to replace Fire Chief William F. Laliberty and Deputy Police Chief Anthony L. Haugh. Both men retire this month after decades of service. Mayor James J. Fiorentini says he is also looking ahead to the retirement of Police Chief Alan R. DeNaro.
“DeNaro has already told us he is nearing retirement age. He is going to be retiring shortly so we want to have some continuity in the department,” he said.
As WHAV reported first last November, Laliberty is retiring after 34 years as a Haverhill firefighter and four and a half years as chief. Similarly, Haugh retires after serving on the police force 33 years the last five as deputy.