Middletown Township has entered a new era with its fire services by hiring the township’s first paid professional fire chief.
Mark Antozzeski was sworn into the position of chief of fire and emergency services Feb. 21. In the position, he will be in charge of all aspects of Middletown’s firefighting and fire prevention operations, including the township’s crew of five paid firefighters and the four volunteer fire companies that provide service to Middletown: Langhorne-Middletown, Parkland, Penndel and William Penn.
Antozzeski has more than 40 years of experience in emergency services, including the last 19 years as chief of Hamilton Township (N.J.) Fire District 9.
An Air Force veteran who worked as a firefighter, fire inspector, crew chief and driver during his time in the military, he has extensive experience as a fire service and/or emergency management instructor for the New Jersey State Police and the Mercer County Fire Academy. He has several fire service certifications and has earned a bachelor’s degree in Fire Service from the University of Maryland and a master’s degree from Columbia Southern University.
“It’s an honor and a privilege to be Middletown’s first career fire chief,” said Antozzeski, whose starting annual salary will be $110,000. “It’s an important role. My biggest thing is working together with people. I hope we can all work together to make a great organization.”
Many township fire officials, including members of the four volunteer companies, came in dress uniforms to attend Antozzeski’s swearing-in by Anna Payne, who chairs the township’s board of supervisors. Antozzeski emerged as the top candidate for the job after a nationwide recruiting effort produced 20 applicants, township Manager Stephanie Teoli Kuhls explained. Hiring a paid chief was one of the recommendations that came out of a recent study of township fire services, she added.
“He’s the ideal candidate for the job. He was described by some people in the hiring process as the fireman’s fireman,” Teoli Kuhls said.
“We are confident that he will lead with the highest level of professionalism, and ensure the safety of our residents and businesses,” Payne added.
Don Harris, a former high-ranking fire service official in Newtown Township, has been serving as Middletown’s interim director of fire and emergency services since the resignation of former Fire Marshal/Emergency Services Director Jim McGuire in 2021. Teoli Kuhls said Harris will stay on a few more months to work with Antozzeski. The manager added that the township will probably hire a new fire marshal at some point, but more will be known on that after Antozzeski has had more time to formulate ideas and recommendations on Middletown’s fire service structure.
In other actions from the Feb. 21 board meeting, the supervisors approved advertisement of the 2023 Americans with Disabilities Act curb ramp program budgeted at $400,000. About 60 to 100 or more curb ramps are scheduled to be installed at intersections in some of the township’s Levittown sections.
A $62,340 contract was awarded to Keystone Floor Products, of Bensalem, to install new carpeting in six areas of the township’s municipal building that still have original carpeting.
Also approved was an ordinance that prohibits stopping, standing and parking on Briggs Road between Langhorne-Yardley Road and Paxson Lane during certain days and hours unless otherwise permitted. The ordinance arose from safety issues created by parents waiting to pick their children from Neshaminy’s Maple Point Middle School but trying to avoid the school’s designated pick-up loop, Assistant Township Manager Nick Valla said.
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