Michael A. Maglione said he shortens his official title when he uses it because Director of Shelton Public Safety and Emergency Management Services seems a bit too long.
“You can’t put that on a business card. There isn’t enough room,” he said.
Formerly fire chief for Bridgeport and Waterbury, a member of the Connecticut Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security Coordinating Council, and currently chairman of the Shelton Fire Department Board of Commissioners, Maglione was appointed this month to his new position by the Board of Aldermen.
The job, which pays $68,000, was created in 1998, but has been vacant since 2001 when Ken Nappi, the original director, stepped down.
Following the recent hurricanes, blizzards and nor’easters, Shelton officials decided to appoint a new director to help improve the city’s response in the future.
Maglione said he would coordinate emergency response planning and training activities between the Fire Department, Police Department, EMS, Emergency Management, Public Works and the Naugatuck Valley Health District.
He said the job doesn’t put him in charge of any department, and if an emergency is declared, such as Hurricane Sandy or February’s blizzard, Emergency Management Director John Millo would still be in charge at the city’s Emergency Operations Center in City Hall.
But he would assume the coordination role during an emergency that Mayor Mark Lauretti has previously filled.
It is Maglione’s job to review the emergency response plans of the various responsible departments and agencies, making sure they work well together and that all the necessary equipment is in place. He said he would also write grant applications to fill those needs.
“The mayor is looking to get away from the day-to-day activities,” Maglione said.
The big blizzard hit when Lauretti and the town’s public works director were in Florida and stranded them there for a bit. The snow closed down all nearby airports and highways.
Lauretti, at first, coordinated response via phone calls. Shelton had to hire extra trucks and front-end loaders from construction companies to help clear Shelton roads — as did Ansonia, Derby and Seymour.
As a matter of fact, the blizzard stranded Maglione on vacation in Puerto Rico. He said he was scheduled for a return flight that weekend, and ended up waiting two extra days to return home. But his job is more one of preparation than on-the-scene management.
“If I do my job, the services will understand what a unified command is and how the Emergency Operations Center works,” he said.
Maglione, 65, started his career as a firefighter at age 23 when he joined the Bridgeport Fire Department. He stayed with that department for 33 years, serving the last seven years as chief, before retiring and taking the job as fire chief in Waterbury for six years.
He moved to Barbara Drive in Shelton, but Maglione didn’t meet Lauretti until 1996 when he had dinner at the mayor’s restaurant.
His wife, Jacqueline, is a hairdresser, and they have five children and 11 grandchildren.
He described his current job another way, noting that when he served on the state coordinating council, the agency developed a response plan in case a severe hurricane felled up to 60 percent of the trees in Connecticut. He said the plan had to include not only how to clear the roads, but also what to do with the massive amount of debris.
“You’re talking about taking it to one location and bringing in massive wood chippers for months,” Maglione said.
And in Shelton, the planning must also focus on the more usual emergencies, such as flooding at The Maples or a multi-car accident with numerous injured drivers and passengers.