FITCHBURG — Mayor Sam Squailia confirmed on Friday that Fire Chief Dante Suarez has been put on administrative leave pending an external investigation.
The mayor also shared that Fitchburg Fire Department Assistant Fire Chief Patrick Haverty is serving as acting chief and that “the external investigation is ongoing.”
“Chief Dante Suarez is on leave pending review,” Squailia shared on Friday afternoon, adding that Haverty’s “appointment will be in place pending the results of an external investigation.”
“As this is a personnel matter, we cannot discuss any further details at this time,” she said.
Dante was sworn as a Fitchburg Fire Department captain on April 4, 2018, and appointed as interim chief on Oct. 5, 2021 — as seen in a Facebook post made that day by former Mayor Steve DiNatale.
A 26-year veteran of the department at the time of that appointment, Suarez officially took over the role that month and civil service records list his official promotion date to fire chief as Dec. 20, 2023. As of press time he is still listed as the chief of the Fitchburg Fire Department in the staff directory on the city website.
External investigations of a Massachusetts fire chief on administrative leave are typically conducted by hired independent law firms, specialized HR consultants or state-level agencies like the district attorney’s office if criminal activity is suspected. These investigations often focus on policy violations, professional misconduct or financial mismanagement and the choice of investigator often depends on the nature of the allegations — whether they involve criminal misconduct, violations of town policy or ethical conflicts.
Suspicious fires
This comes on the heels of city and state officials investigating a trio of suspicious fires that took place in February on Blossom and Day streets and Myrtle Avenue as arson. According to a press release shared on Feb. 19, Suarez said the fire on Myrtle Avenue that broke out the day prior “is not believed to be connected to the earlier fires” and urged anyone with information or tips to share it with the Arson Watch Rewards Program at 800-682-9229, with calls confidential and remaining anonymous an option.
The Arson Watch Reward Program is coordinated by the Massachusetts Property Insurance Underwriting Association and offers rewards of up to $5,000 for information that prevents, detects, or solves arson crimes. Investigators posted placards with the Arson Watch Reward Program’s hotline posted at all three fire scenes.
“Setting a fire isn’t just property damage, it’s a potentially deadly act that endangers families, neighbors, and first responders,” Police Chief Steve Giannini stated in the release. “I’m asking everyone in our community to stay alert and pay attention to anything unusual in your surroundings. If you see something that doesn’t seem right, trust your instincts and report it. If you have any information about these incidents, no matter how minor it may seem, please come forward. Even the smallest detail could make a difference.”
Two of the fires took place on Feb. 14 and 15 in a large apartment building with entrances at 43 Blossom St. and 40 Day St. Fitchburg firefighters successfully extinguished both fires before they could spread substantially. The third took place on Feb. 18 about half a mile away at a multi-family home at 164 Myrtle Ave. and went to two alarms, with one person suffering injuries that were not life-threatening and seven people displaced.
“The Fitchburg Fire Department, Fitchburg Police, and State Police assigned to the State Fire Marshal’s Office are jointly investigating all three of these incidents,” State Fire Marshal Jon Davine said in the release. “We’ve reached the point where we can confidently say that they were intentionally set. We have not reached a determination as to whether the fires on Blossom and Day streets are related, but we always consider a link when suspicious fires are reported in close proximity.”
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