New Derby Fire Marshal Dave Marcarelli.
DERBY– Derby’s new fire marshal Dave Marcarelli just might hold the record for having the shortest retirement ever.
Just three days after retiring from North Haven Fire Department after nearly 30 years, Marcarelli became Derby’s new fire marshal.
He retired from his position in North Haven as deputy fire chief/deputy fire marshal on Nov. 18, 2022 and started the job here as Derby’s new fire marshal on Nov. 21, 2022.
“I was looking for a change of pace after being in my previous position for so long, and I thought it was time for something new,” Marcarelli said. “I did some research online about the city and its rich history. One thing that stood out was the longevity of my predecessor and his staff in remaining in the office. The Derby fire marshal’s office had stability for the past 25 years. That’s always a good sign to me.”
Marcarelli’s predecessor was longtime fire marshal Phil Hawks, who retired in Aug. 2022 after a 25-year career in Derby.
Hawks was one of three members who served on the fire marshal search committee, along with Derby Fire Commissioner Gary Parker and former Derby Fire Commissioner Mike Kelleher.
Hawks said 11 people applied for the job, and the top four candidates were interviewed and recommended to Mayor Richard Dziekan’s office. Dziekan said the job pays a starting salary of $75,000 during a probationary period but did not have additional salary information.
The current Derby budget contains a line item saying ‘fire marshal wages’ and shows a dollar amount of $82,773.
“I was very impressed with his experience, and his extensive knowledge of all the fire codes,” Dziekan said. “He came right in and is working to reorganize the fire marshal’s office.”
Marcarelli said a city ordinance allows Derby to have four deputy fire marshals and eight inspectors, but the current staff is one fire marshal, one deputy, and two inspectors. He’s hoping to request an increase for staff in the 2023 – 2024 budget.
“My goals and initiatives are to make this office more efficient and effective,” he said.
The North Haven native, who is father to 12-year old son Grayson, has already streamlined the way inspections are scheduled.
“Our deputy fire marshals and inspectors are all part-time, and they would come into the office, pull a card from our inventory of inspections, send out letters and wait for a response from a tenant or landlord. They then had to schedule the inspections on their own. I found this to be very time consuming for our inspectors and inefficient.”
Marcarelli instituted a new system where he sends out inspection notices on a weekly basis, and the recipient is asked to call him directly to schedule an appointment.
“We increased our inspections significantly over the past two months, which is the goal we were shooting for,” he said.
Derby has more than 250 multi-family homes which require annual inspections, but, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Marcarelli said the city fell behind. The fire marshal’s office is working to catch up.
Hailing from a long family line of firefighters, with a brother who was a full-time firefighter for 40 years and a cousin who is East Haven’s fire chief, Marcarelli said fire service just runs in the family DNA.
Marcarelli, who holds several certifications from the Connecticut Fire Academy, along with a bachelor’s degree in economics from Eastern Connecticut State University and master’s degree in business administration from the University of New Haven, said he was grateful to come to Derby, where Hawks made it easy for him to hit the ground running.
“I am very fortunate to have replaced an experienced and knowledgeable fire marshal,” he said. “The office was left in very good shape when I got here. It did not take long to figure out his way of record keeping and management. This made it easy for me to jump right in with a very little learning curve.”
Hawks was impressed with Marcarelli.
“We were looking for someone to just step into the job and he was able to jump right in,” Hawks said.
When he’s not on the job, Marcarelli, 60, enjoys martial arts, skiing, playing hockey, and racing dirt bikes with his son. He also loves dogs and adopted a Golden Lab and German Shepard mix from a shelter. He’s also finishing up his master’s degree in public administration from UNH.
Marcarelli said he’s grateful for the opportunity to work in Derby.
“It has turned out to be a great fit for me,” he said. “The mayor, his staff and everyone in city hall have been great to work with. The people of Derby have been very welcoming.”
