Yash Roy Photo
Gary Merwede at a June presser celebrating state money for a new Hamden firehouse.
Hamden Fire Chief Gary Merwede will retire at the end of July following 28 years in the department.
“I have been blessed to work for a department that protects the town where I grew up and raised my family, a department with an excellent reputation and hardworking, dedicated firefighters and fire officers,” Merwede wrote in a letter to his colleagues on Tuesday.
Assistant Fire Chief Jeffrey Naples will serve as the interim chief beginning July 29, Merwede’s last day in office, until Mayor Lauren Garrett appoints an official replacement, according to Chief of Staff Sean Grace.
“We’ve had a really great working relationship with Chief Merwede,” Grace said Wednesday.
Then-Mayor Curt Leng appointed Merwede to the chief’s position in 2018. Through the last several months with the Garrett administration, he has joined forces with fire commissioners to focus on diversifying the department and securing $8.3 million to build a fresh firehouse on Putnam Avenue to replace another Southern Hamden station built more than a century ago.
Grace said that the administration will prioritize hiring internally as they select a permanent replacement for Merwede.