Portland’s interim fire chief will be the fourth person since 2012 to permanently hold the department’s top job.
Keith Gautreau, a veteran firefighter who’s lead the department of Maine’s largest city since his predecessor’s spring retirement, has been named as the new permanent chief, city officials announced Friday.
Gautreau takes up the position after six years of relatively swift rotation through top fire officials following the 2012 retirement of longtime Chief Fred LaMontagne.
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On Friday, City Manager Jon Jennings said that he’s been impressed with the Gautreau during his time as acting chief and has “full confidence that he is the right one to lead the department into the future.”
“I decided it was not necessary to spend taxpayer money and take up staff resources on a national search for a new fire chief given the talent we have here with Chief Gautreau,” Jennings said in a written statement.
Gautreau, who has spent 23 years with the Portland Fire Department, expressed gratitude for the appointment, and said he’s “excited” to continue working “to modernize the department and the services we provide.” He will be paid $122,791 annually, according to a city spokeswoman.
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Gautreau began working for the fire department in 1995, moving up through its ranks and eventually being promoted to assistant fire chief in 2015, spokeswoman Jessica Grondin said.
He succeeds David Jackson, another longtime Portland firefighter, who was named permanent chief in February 2016 after four months acting in that role. Including Jackson, there had been three permanent chiefs and another acting one going back to the tenure of Lamontagne, who retired in April 2012.
LaMontagne left his position following a scandal over the city’s fire boat, which was involved in two costly accidents in the years leading into his retirement, including one in which firefighters’ friends and family members were on board.
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All of Gautreau’s three immediate predecessors served less than three years in the top job.
BDN editor Seth Koenig contributed to this report.
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