>Bombace will retire as fire chief this week
https://www.northjersey.com/news/92185729_Bombace_will_retire_as_fire_chief_this_week.html
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
BY MICHAEL SEDON
The Ridgewood News
STAFF WRITER
Ridgewood Fire Chief Jim Bombace is set to retire Friday after 30 years of service to the village and its residents.
He was hired on Monday, July 7, 1980, a date that Bombace provided instantaneously because “well, you never forget that day.” After nearly 20 years with the department, Bombace became fire chief in May 2000.
“[The department is] very professional,” he said. “These guys are some of the best in the firefighting business in the state of New Jersey, and quite arguably maybe the country. We’ve got a great group of guys, and it’s been an honor and a privilege to be the chief of the Ridgewood Fire Department. And I’m certainly going to miss a lot of the camaraderie.”
There is also the feeling that comes when a firefighter saves a life or someone’s property that Bombace said he would miss after he departs.
“It’s a wonderful feeling when somebody says ‘Thank you for coming and helping us,’ and that’s something I’m going to miss,” Bombace said.
The biggest change in the department under Bombace’s watch was the computerized record-keeping system, he said. Before the department installed its own computer network, it relied on Central Dispatch’s system, which was slower.
“It’s made reporting a little faster, a little easier, and we don’t have to rely on connections to Central Dispatch,” the chief said.
Bombace said he would be available in an advisory role if the department needed his experience, and he planned to remain in Ridgewood as a resident for some time, working on some home projects.
A new fire chief has not yet been named.
https://www.northjersey.com/news/92185729_Bombace_will_retire_as_fire_chief_this_week.html
