New Bedford fire chief leaves the ‘family business’

Sep. 17--NEW BEDFORD -- Fire Chief Michael Gomes has left "the family business."

Effective midnight Saturday, the 58-year-old Gomes officially retired from the New Bedford Fire Department, ending a 29-year career, the last 8 years and 8 months as head of the department. One of his last official acts was Sept. 9 when he participated in groundbreaking ceremonies for the new fire, police and ambulance services facility at the former St. Anne Church on the city's peninsula.

On Friday, he relived some of his past when he served as a tillerman on Ladder 1 at the downtown station and operated the back of a ladder truck from the same station once again for about a 20-mile ride. "I went out the way I started," he said.

Gomes has been on medical leave since December and Paul Coderre Jr. has served as the city's acting fire chief.

"The family business" is what Gomes calls the New Bedford Fire Department because his father, Walter Gomes; two uncles, Albino Gomes and Antone Gomes; two cousins, Gary Gomes and Curtis Gomes, a civilian emloyee; and his brother, Capt. Scott Gomes on Engine 7, were or are all members of the New Bedford Fire Department. Michael Gomes is the only member of the Gomes family to become fire chief. His father and two uncles were firefighters and Gary Gomes was a captain in the NBFD.

Chief Gomes is proud of the accomplishments that were made under his watch and at peace with his decision to leave.

"We accomplished some great things," he said. Topping the list was getting off the federal SAFER grant (Staffing for Adequate Fire & Emergency Response grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency), which funded 74 of the 236 firefighter positions in the NBFD when he began as chief, he said. As of Nov. 18, the City of New Bedford funded all the positions.

"It's one of the reasons I decided to retire -- that was accomplished," he said. "I didn't want to see them laid off. I was terrified of that. I did not want any layoffs on my watch."

He was "very happy" to see the groundbreaking of the new public safety center in the South End. "It's been over 60 years since New Bedford built a new fire station," he said.

He was the driving force behind the Buzzards Bay Task Force, a collection of 25 police, fire and harbormaster units from 22 agencies representing coastline communities from Falmouth to Westport, that assists in maritime emergencies. It also includes the Massachusetts Environmental Police and New Bedford Harbor Development Commission.

Despite challenging economic times for the city, 70 percent of the Fire Department front line apparatus was turned over; a number of new response vehicles were purchased; a new, state-of-the-art fire boat was purchased; a new crash truck at the airport was purchased; and the NBFD received a Class 1 rating from the Insurance Services Office.

Under his leadership, the NBFD became an "all hazard agency," he said. "The list of things we do today versus what we did 9 years ago are very different," he said. "I tried to leave it (the Fire Department) better than I found it."

Gomes thanked his administrative staff who helped him in his tenure as fire chief. "They are second to none and I could not have done this without them," he said.

Gomes said he is glad to see an end to being on-call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. "I can't say that being fire chief has been fun," he said. "It's extremely challenging. It never ends and now my work is done."

The retired chief said he is going to take the next year to figure out what he wants to do next. "I will take up golf and see what opportunities present themselves," he said.

He intends to "live life," and become a snowbird, staying at a vacation home in Florida during the winters, he said.

Gomes' wife, Deborah, a New Bedford school teacher for 35 years, retired at the end of June. The rest of the year the couple will live in a downsized home in Mattapoisett.

"Eight and a half years in this position wears you down," Gomes said.

"The Fire Department has been very good to us. It has fed us, put roofs over our heads, educated our children."

Follow Curt Brown on Twitter @CurtBrown_SCT

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