A new officer and a new firefighter joined the Bedford Fire Department last week.
Chief David Grunes announced the promotion of Lt. Mark Casey to captain. Casey, a 15-year member of the department, will serve as shift commander of Group 4.
The newest member of Group 4 is Firefighter Dan Hansen, who graduated Friday from the Massachusetts State Fire Academy, Bridgewater campus.
Casey, who served as a Marine before joining the Bedford Fire Department, was the department’s first paramedic and was instrumental in assisting with the planning and implementation of the advanced life support program in 2015, according to Grunes. He was promoted to lieutenant in 2018.
A member of the State Hazardous Material Team, Casey has experience responding to hazardous material incidents throughout northeast Massachusetts, Grunes noted, and “he has brought this experience back to the department, providing hazardous material and lab safety training to his fellow firefighters.”
Hansen, who grew up in Lunenburg, “excelled in both the physical skills and written exams while in the academy,” Grunes said. “We are confident that he has the value system the members of the department share and will serve the community with the skill and professionalism he exhibited in the academy.”
Grunes, Casey, Capt. Mark Sullivan, and Firefighters Charlie Dias, Brendan Shea, and Chris Snowden attended graduation in support of Hansen. (The new firefighter is not related to Firefighter Matt Hansen, whose father, Dave Hansen, retired as a lieutenant with the department.)
The chief explained that Casey’s promotion is part of a department reorganization, which will “provide for a supervisor presence at our large incidents to focus on resources and strategies of the overall incident, as well as a company-level supervisor to oversee tactics.”
“Providing a captain and lieutenant on each shift will allow us to send an officer to simultaneous incidents, which have become increasingly frequent,” Grunes explained. “Captain Casey’s experience as a Marine, firefighter, and paramedic has prepared him well for the shift commander role.
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