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Dimitropolis ready to serve with WFD

Reminder Publications submitted photo
By Courtney Llewellyn

Reminder Assistant Editor



WILBRAHAM The Board of Selectmen unanimously approved of Jason Dimitropolis as the firefighter to fill the last vacant position in the Wilbraham Fire Department at the March 17 meeting.

Dimitropolis earned his firefighting degree from the state's Firefighting Academy in Stow in 2005 and also holds an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) license. He currently works as a full-time EMT with Am-B-Care Ambulance Service in Springfield and serves as a call firefighter for both Monson and Palmer. He is also currently enrolled in a paramedic program at Springfield College.

The 22-year-old is also being trained as a driver/operator, meaning when he is finished with training, he will be able to drive a fire engine and use all its equipment.

After several rounds of interviews with Fire Chief Fran Nothe, Dimitropolis came before the Board of Selectmen for a final round of questioning. Selectman Patrick Brady said he thought Dimitropolis was "very well qualified."

Nothe told the board that his calls to the fire departments in Palmer and Monson have returned nothing but good news about the firefighter.

"I am very excited to be joining the Wilbraham Fire Department," Dimitropolis told Reminder Publications. "I have invested a substantial amount of time to training for a career in the fire service and it is very rewarding to see that the time I put in is getting me exactly where I wanted to be.

"I was honored just to have been selected for the interview process, but to be the person that was chosen for the position has left me without words," he continued.

Dimitropolis said he will be bringing the skills he has learned as an on-call firefighter as well as a desire to continue to better himself to the Wilbraham Fire Department.

He doesn't think he'll have a difficult time fitting into the organization. "I am ready to take any advice my new co-workers might give me," Dimitropolis stated. "I am not the only young firefighter coming to the town. Kevin Brown was also recently hired and is only a few years older than I. Kevin is a great firefighter/EMT and is a very strong addition to the department so hopefully I can live up to the standard that he is setting."

"He's polite, well-mannered and takes orders well," Nothe told the Board of Selectmen.

Dimitropolis was chosen from a total of 47 applicants to interview for the position. He will be replacing Firefighter Lisa Carney.