By Jason Arndt
Editor
The Town of Burlington didn’t have to look very far to find its first full-time fire chief to lead the department.
William Vrchota, who served as fire chief on a volunteer basis for seven years, recently received approval to become the permanent fire chief from the Burlington Town Board.
He began his tenure in the new role on Monday.
Vrchota initially joined the department in 1994 and steadily rose the ranks to volunteer fire chief about seven years ago, according to Town of Burlington officials.
“I am honored and privileged to be able to do something that I am passionate about for my whole life,” Vrchota said in a Nov. 15 telephone interview, adding he has been a life-long member of the community. “I wanted to continue fostering relationships with our community and the surrounding communities and to build our department while continuing to work with the surrounding departments to get the best emergency services.”
The Town of Burlington decided to create the full-time fire chief position after several meetings where officials identified concerns, including daytime staffing and the need for more administrative oversight.
“We wanted to make sure that we could get trucks out for calls during the day,” Vrchota said. “We also identified that the administrative end was a good start with a full-time chief to lead and do daytime activities along with helping trucks get out during the day.”
With a full-time fire chief, the department would be able to effectively and efficiently perform required administrative paperwork under state and federal guidelines, while bolstering training.
Volunteer-driven organization
The town fire department, like hundreds of departments throughout the state, relies on volunteers to serve their respective communities.
Vrchota, who served as a volunteer since 1994, recognized how important the first responders are and emphasized their value for the Town of Burlington.
“We are looking for volunteers,” he said. “I told the membership that the volunteers are still going to be the heart and backbone of this department.”
The department has repeatedly sought more volunteers, and Vrchota hopes to build a steady roster of people willing to serve the Town of Burlington.
“We are hoping to foster relationships at the high school to help with that recruitment,” Vrchota said.
As the department looks to the future, Vrchota emphasized he plans on maintaining positive relationships with neighboring departments.
“We work well with the City of Burlington, Rochester, and all of the surrounding departments and I want to continue that,” Vrchota said.
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