Chief Nathan Barrington the President of the Rhode Island Southern Firefighters League and the Chief of the Kingston Fire District on Monday night handed over the gavel to Chief Justin Lee of the Hope Valley-Wyoming Fire District. Chief Barrington who has been the President of the League since longtime President Fred Stanley retired in 2018 will also retire after over 30 years as the Kingston Fire Chief on June 30th. Chief Barrington has done a tremendous amount for the League and his Department. Being the home to the University of Rhode Island, many firefighters from across the country have served at KFD under Barrington’s leadership during their time at URI.

Chief Barrington presented the RISFFL Offical gavel to Chief Lee following a brief swearing in at the Annual President’s steak fry dinner at Richmond Country Club attended by about 40 guests. In addition, Chief Andrew Kettle of the Charlestown Ambulance-Rescue Service was sworn in to replace Chief Lee as the Treasurer.

At the conclusion of the meeting, Chief Barrington received several recognitions. Including the Annual Frederick A. Stanley Award for Dedicated Service from the League. Chief Scott Partington and Chief Rick Susi of the Rhode Island Association of Fire Chiefs made a presentation to the Chief upon his retirement along with Chief Jason Rhodes on behalf of the Office of EMS from the RI Department of Health. Director Marc Pare of the Rhode Island Fire Academy represented the State Fire Marshal and Deputy Chief Kevin Quinn made several comments on behalf of the National Volunteer Fire Council.

On behalf of all of the members of the League, we send our best wishes to Chief Barrington on his retirement and thank him for his years of dedicated service to us! Like wise we wish Chief Lee and Chief Kettle well as they embark on their new roles along with the rest of the Board that remains unchanged.