HUDSON – Deputy Fire Chief Stephen S. Cariveau will soon retire after 33 years of service to the Hudson Fire Department.
Cariveau’s retirement is effective Jan. 19, 2022. Due to accrued time off, though, he will be on leave until that official date. Lieutenant Brian Sleeper will act as acting deputy fire chief until he officially assumes the role next month.
The Select Board noted Cariveau’s planned retirement earlier this year, but discussed the matter in greater detail at their meeting on Nov. 29.
Appointed as a call firefighter in September 1988, Cariveau worked for over three decades. He became deputy fire chief in 2019.
Fire Chief Brian Johannes was grateful for Cariveau’s service as he spoke at that Nov. 29 Select Board meeting.
“His leadership and his maturity and all the things he brought to that role as the deputy fire chief were a tremendous asset for us,” Johannes said.
Johannes added in an email to the Community Advocate that Cariveau was “instrumental in my transition as fire chief.”
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Cariveau also assisted in COVID-19 prevention programs throughout the fire station over the last two years, keeping equipment sanitized and helping the department maintain its “state of readiness.”
“Together, we began to build the beginnings of a more robust fire prevention program,” Johannes said. “He will be greatly missed.”
Select Board members Michael Burks and Shawn Sadowski acknowledged the retirement by thanking Cariveau for his long-standing professionalism. They wished him well on his retirement.
Burks rose through the ranks of the Hudson Police Department to eventually serve as Police Chief prior to his retirement last year. He said Cariveau began his career two years after he did.
“I was a young cop working the beat [when we met],” Burks said. “He has always given his 100 percent ever since.”
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