Above: Less than a year after retiring from Boxborough, Chief Fillebrown is looking forward to the challenge of helping Southborough through a transitionary period. (photo cropped from Facebook post)
This week, the Select Board voted to appoint former Boxborough Fire Chief Paul Fillebrown, Jr. to step in as Southborough’s interim Chief when Chief Steven Achilles steps down. (The position is contingent on coming to final contract terms.)
As I previously reported, Achilles will be retiring from the fire service by February 7th to take a new gig in Florida. (Scroll down for more on the search to replace him.)
On Tuesday morning, the Select Board was happy to have Fillebrown temporarily take the reins while they search for a permanent replacement. The chief said he knew a few of members of Southborough’s department. He was looking forward to being there for them “and the next candidate, and hopefully make a smooth transition”.
Fillebrown has over 38 years of experience, including as Boxborough’s chief. He noted that he also had experience with ALS (Advanced Life Support) ambulance service which Southborough’s department includes.
Board members honed in on his experience coming from a town that is in the process of transitioning to a regional dispatch system. Select Board members are still investigating pursuing Southborough making the change. They believed his knowledge would allow them to keep moving forward.
Member Al Hamilton said that he and member Sam Stivers would probably pick his brain, especially on how to deal with “dark station issues” (having no in-person dispatcher to respond to building visitors).
Fillebrown retired from the chief position last summer* “just shy of 4 years” after starting, in part because his father was dealing with health issues. (A few months later, his father, also a retired chief, passed away.) When he was reached out to about the opportunity, he was happy to take on the new challenge. He told the board he likes meeting people and finding out how they can solve problems.
Board members mentioned they were convinced by strong references from both Chief Achilles and Jason Malinowski.
Fillebrown said he was familiar with area chiefs, having worked with them when he was in Boxborough. He noted that Achilles had helped with a couple of things in his department.
Malinowski, who chaired the search committee in charge of the 2019 chief search, worked for Fillebrown in Boxborough. As a chair and member of various Southborough Town committees, Malinowski has also worked alongside members of the Select Board.
Replacing Achilles
As I previously wrote, the Town isn’t using a search committee this time around to find the permanent replacement. The job has been advertised by a recruiter (and is now posted on the Town website here). The deadline for applications is February 16, 2024.
Earlier this month, member Kathy Cook told the board that she learned that Hopkinton had 11 “strong” applicants for the Fire Chief position they just filled. She was optimistic that Southborough would have a good response.
*Upon his retirement, Fillebrown was publicly congratulated on Facebook both by Boxborough and Ayer, where he worked most of his career.
