Mass. firefighter new No. 2 man at Lebanon Fire & EMS

LEBANON - A full-time Massachusetts firefighter who lives in Rochester during his days off has been hired as the new assistant chief for Lebanon Fire and EMS.

Dan Mathews, who works as a Company Commander at one of four Natick stationhouses, said on Friday he was happy to be onboard and looking to make what he called a "great department" even better.

Mathews said he was looking forward to doing whatever he could to support the new chief.

"Right now I'm helping Chief (Dan) Meehan go through the transition as a new chief," Mathews said. "He's been here eight months and it's still in a transition period."

Mathews is also an intermediate EMT and said he is working on getting his Maine Advanced EMT certification.

Mathews, whose dad was also a firefighter, said he plans to retire from the Natick department in four years.

Mathews takes over for former assistant chief Eric Neubert, who left the department earlier this summer.