By JON BAKER
 
CUMBERLAND  —  It was kind of off the cuff how Richard Susi became involved with the Cumberland Hill Fire Department.

In September 1974, he and a few other Cumberland High juniors were standing around conversing after school, and one said he had pondered becoming a volunteer firefighter.
“These guys and myself weren’t really big into sports or student council, things like that, and we already had a friend who had decided to volunteer,” Susi reminisced. “He told us the fire chief would call you out of class to fight a brush fire, and said it was a great place to hang out when things were slow. I guess you could call it a boys’ club without the sports.
“That was good enough for us; I mean, being called out of class? Why not?” he laughed. “You got to do all sorts of things, and riding in a fire truck, what 16-year-old wouldn’t want that? It sounded like a great place to be … Once we did it the first time, we all were hooked. I was hooked. That’s easy to say, since Ken Finlay joined with me, and he’s now the Woonsocket fire chief.”
That’s one of many reasons Susi seems melancholy about leaving the department he’s poured his heart and soul into the last 36 years, 31 as a full-time firefighter and the last eight as chief. On Jan. 7, he informed the chairman of Cumberland Hill’s Board of Fire Commissioners he would retire as of March 29. Five days later, he made it official with a letter to the board.
“I had been contemplating the move ever since I hit the 30-year mark; that was last April,” he stated. “When I became chief in 2001, I set goals I wanted to accomplish, and I feel like I have. I also feel like it’s time for a change for me, and that it also would be good for the department to have some fresh leadership, someone with new goals, a new plan.
“My firefighters’ response to the news? I don’t think they were that surprised,” he added. “I had been kind of hinting that this would come. They knew I had been a little frustrated trying to decide, ‘Do I leave or do I stay?’ Once I made the decision, I stood by it.”

*     *     *
Susi always felt it was truly important for a fire chief to be involved locally, regionally and nationally, and he said that philosophy helped him achieve his wants for his department.
“There has been an increase in staff, but the thing I’m most proud of is the addition of a full-time fire marshal; that’s Lt. Claude LaFlamme,” he noted. “I had been the fire prevention officer for almost 19 years, and it was a position I always felt needed more of a focus, and to make it full-time. When we did, I switched it to a fire marshal designation.
His duties are to inspect buildings and make their codes compliant for the safety of our residents.
“I proposed it in 2003, and got it passed in our budget. Amazingly, only three months later, the Station nightclub fire tragedy occurred in West Warwick. Our full-time fire marshal hadn’t officially started yet, as he was in school being trained … A lot of people in Cumberland probably believe that Claude’s position was a reaction to the fire, but it wasn’t. Fact is, we were ahead of the curve.
“As a result, over the past five years, I can say we’ve come really far in that our buildings are code-compliant, and are now being inspected regularly. We have new fire alarm systems in area buildings to keep them safe.”
He also admitted being thrilled and satisfied with the grants he’s worked so hard to procure over the years. Among them: the $50,000 Cumberland air supply trailer (which is shared by other town departments); $70,000 worth of rapid intervention team equipment (designed to help rescue firefighters from burning buildings); and $130,000 of “accountability” equipment.
“Those are tools we use to keep accounts of each firefighter, career or call, at the scene of an emergency,” he offered. “We also purchased our primary fire apparatus, Engine 41, about three years ago, and a new brush fire truck.”
The way he viewed his job hasn’t been overlooked. In 2005, he became president of the Rhode Island Association of Fire Chiefs, and two years later served as the same for the New England Association of Fire Chiefs. In that latter role, he produced a video on the history of the 87-year-old NEAFC and how far it had come. It recently won a statewide PEG Award (for documentary on a non-profit organization).
“I’d like to say we’re proud of the fact we’ve been able to maintain our call (volunteer) firefighter system, and that it’s evolved into a part-time firefighting program,” he stated. “We have call firefighters go to events with career men, who mentor them; it’s hands-on training. It’s worked so well that, just this year, I’ve lost two previous call firefighters to full-time slots at Valley Falls and another to North Cumberland. In fact, one was my own son, Steve.”
 
*     *     *
Susi is a 1975 CHS graduate who as a teenager worked at his dad’s diner, Dan’s Village Restaurant on Lincoln’s Front Street. He has been married to sweetheart Holly for 30 years, and they have three adult children: Alan, 27; Stephanie, 26; and Steve, 20.
As for his future plans, he stated he just wants to spend more time with his family, play a little golf and “putter” around his home making improvements.
Veteran Lime Rock Fire Chief Frank Sylvester said Susi’s retirement will leave a hole at Cumberland Hill.
“I was shocked when he called and told me he was all done,” he said. “I was, like, ‘Rich, please don’t tell me that!’ The news spread around the fire community, well, like a house fire. Everyone said, “Don’t tell me that it’s true.’
“It’s going to be a great loss to the citizens of Cumberland. …He’s done a helluva job,” Susi said. “He’s a top-notch guy. If I were a firefighter just starting my career, I’d consider it a privilege to work with someone of Chief Susi’s caliber.”