On April 14th, at the South Salem Fire District meeting, Mike DeVito was sworn in as the new Chief of the South Salem Fire Department. Chief DeVito, a 19 year member of the Department, had served as an Assistant Chief for the past 4 years. Prior to being a Chief Officer, he had been a Line Officer for 8 years. We wish Chief DeVito good luck as he now leads the Department in the years ahead. (Within hours of being sworn in Chief Devito took in a working fire as his first call as Chief of the Department). Also moving up, are 1st Assistant Chief Nick DeLaurentis and 2nd Assistant Chief Matt Yorke.
The Department would like to say a huge thank you to the outgoing Chief, Mike Lynch. Ex-Chief Lynch has now served as Chief of the Department 3 times. His dedication to the Department and fire service is to be commended. His leadership has helped lead the Department through a gauntlet of incidents and events. Most recently dealing with ever changing responses and policies to deal with the Coronavirus pandemic. Just hours after Mike went out as Chief, instead of taking a much deserved break, there he was, in the middle of the night at a working fire.