The Holyoke Fire Department is overseen by a three-person Civilian Board appointed by the Mayor. This diverse and qualified group is the Fire Department's Appointing Authority and provides direction to the Department through Fire Chief John Kadlewicz.

Current Members:

Jeffrey A. Trask, term expires April 25, 2027

George Mettey, term expires May 13, 2026

Nelson Lopez, term expires December 19, 2025

Dale T. Glenn, Clerk of the Board

Duties and Responsibilities of the Fire Commission:

Sec. 19. - Establishment and composition of fire department, appointment, terms and powers of fire commissioners.

• The city council shall establish a fire department for said city, to consist of three fire commissioners, a chief, and of such officers and members, including a superintendent of the fire alarm telegraph system, as the city council shall from time to time prescribe. And said fire commissioners shall have authority to define the rank and duties of said officers and members, and in general to make such regulations concerning the conduct and government of such department, the management of fires and the conduct of persons attending fires, as they may deem expedient, and may fix such penalties for any violation of such regulations, or any of them, as are provided for breach of the ordinances of said city. The mayor, exclusively, shall appoint three persons to be fire commissioners; one of said persons to be appointed in the month of January in each year, to hold office for the term of three years from the first Monday of January in the year of his appointment. The present fire commissioners shall continue to hold office, unless sooner removed, for two years from the first Monday of January next after their appointment. The appointment of all the officers and members of the fire department, including a superintendent of the fire alarm telegraph system, who shall also be inspector of wires, shall be vested in the fire commissioners exclusively.

Sec. 42-43. Powers and Duties Generally:

• The duty of extinguishing fires and protecting life and property in case of fire shall, within the city, be entrusted to the fire commissioners, and they are authorized to appoint, subject to the laws, rules and regulations of the commonwealth relating to civil service, such other officers and members of the fire department as are prescribed under section 42-71 and define their rank and duties and to fix their compensation. The fire commissioners shall have the supervision and control of all the fire houses and furniture used for department purposes, and of all public hydrants when necessary for the use of the department.

(Code 1972, § 7-31)

• The fire commissioners shall have authority to purchase fire engines, hose carriages and all other apparatus and supplies necessary for the complete equipment of the fire department, or conducive to the proper performance of their duties; provided, however, that the expenditures under each branch or head of the fire department as designated by the city council in the order fixing the annual appropriations shall not exceed the sums previously appropriated or provided by the city council for such branch or head, nor shall the aggregate of the expenditures authorized by this chapter be in excess of the sums previously appropriated or provided by the city council for the maintenance of the fire department. No expenditure amounting to $1,000.00 or more for apparatus or fixtures shall be made at any one time without specific authority therefor from the city council.

  (Code 1972, § 7-32)

• Sec. 42-45. - Rules and Regulations.
• The fire commissioners shall make such lawful rules and regulations for their own government of the fire department and for the regulation and care of the fire alarm telegraph system as they may consider necessary. They shall also make suitable regulations under which the officers and men of the fire department shall be required to wear an appropriate uniform or badge by which, in case of fire and at other times, the authority and relations of such officers and men of the department may be known.

  (Code 1972, § 7-33)

• Sec. 42-46. - Records; Annual Report.
• It shall be the duty of the fire commissioners to keep, or cause to be kept, fair and exact rolls of the respective companies, specifying the time of admission and discharge, the name, age, occupation and residence of each member, and an accurate account of all money that may be received and expended for the fire department, and annually, on or before January 15, to make or cause to be made to the city council a detailed report of the condition of the department, and the cost of maintenance, together with a schedule of the property of the department, with an estimate of its value, and to indicate in such schedule the property purchased during the year; also to report a list of the fires which have occurred during the current year in the city, with the causes of such fires, and the number and description of the buildings injured or destroyed, with the names of the owners and the estimated losses; and such report shall be published as the city council may direct.

  (Code 1972, § 7-34)

• Sec. 42-47. - Annual Inspection of Fire Department.