WORTHINGTON — Leadership of the town’s fire department is undergoing a change once more with the appointment of a longtime captain as chief.
Mike Dondiego is taking over as chief following Rick Scott’s decision to step aside from the position he had filled for the past year.
Scott, 72, said he has had some continuing health problems that made it difficult to carry on as chief. He said he will remain a member of the department.
Scott praised Dondiego, who he said has the respect of everyone on the department.
“He has a wealth of experience and a cool, even temper,” Scott said.
Dondiego, 60, said he’ll be facing the same challenges other small, rural fire departments face — trying to recruit new members and retain them after they join. He also emphasized maintaining and improving relations with departments in surrounding communities.
Dondiego has been with the Worthington department since 1994. He grew up in Mineola on New York’s Long Island, moving to Worthington in 1984. He and his wife, Margaret, have two sons, Vincent and Anthony, who are both on the department.
It was an experience with a wood stove in late fall 1993 that first gave him the idea of joining the local fire department.
“I was new to using wood stoves,” he said. “I was burning some green, unseasoned wood and I had a chimney fire.”
Firefighters showed up and explained about using seasoned wood. The incident prompted him to think about volunteering.
“I thought it was a great way to get involved,” he said.
He said he has found firefighter training to be interesting, and he enjoys the camaraderie on the department.
Dondiego works in Pittsfield, and for many years was only available to respond to calls evenings and weekends. Now, he said, with a hybrid work schedule, he has more flexibility.
Select Board Chairman Charley Rose offered praise for Dondiego.
“Mike is the perfect candidate,” he said. “I pursued him a year ago but he wasn’t ready. I’m really glad he stepped up this time.”
The Select Board approved the appointment at its last meeting, July 18, he said.
Scott said he was asked to step into the chief’s job for a year after Kyle Challet stepped down in March 2022, and he had hoped to be able to extend that to three years. Nonetheless, he said, he believes the department has made some strides in the last year.
“Our training has improved, and our standing among our mutual aid partners has gained some ground,” he said. “When called, we’re able to respond.”
Rose agreed that the department is in “recovery mode.”
Rose noted that all the small towns face the same problem trying to staff a volunteer fire department, with few willing or able to take on the onerous training requirements.
“It’s a big commitment,” he said. “It’s going to be a crisis if it’s not already.”
The one saving grace is that structure fires are relatively infrequent, partly due to more stringent building codes, and most emergencies are medical calls, he said. Worthington contracts with Hilltown Ambulance in Huntington for ambulance service.
Voters at a last year’s Town Meeting defeated an article put forward to make the fire chief a full-time, salaried position. They did vote, however, to increase the compensation for the part-time chief’s position to $6,265.
The volunteer firefighters are technically paid on call, which means they receive some payment for each call they respond to, Scott said.
“We call it gas money,” he said.