Temporary fire marshal hired in Village of Lindenhurst

The Village of Lindenhurst has found a temporary fire marshal to assist with a backlog of permits and other work.

John Sheehan was hired earlier this summer as a part-time seasonal fire marshal at a rate of $15 per hour.

Village officials have been without a fire marshal since August 2014, when Richard Lyman, the village's part-time fire marshal since October 1995, submitted his retirement letter. Last September, the village hired two new part-time fire marshals, William Hayden and Thomas Karn at $12 per hour. They resigned less than six months later, and the village hired replacement James Nolan in March at an annual salary of $33,800. He never showed up for the job, said village Clerk-Treasurer Shawn Cullinane.

Sheehan is a former building inspector for the village who has "kept up his training," which is similar to fire marshal duties, said Cullinane. Sheehan will be helping the village work through some of its backlog, such as occupancy permits, Cullinane said. "It's the nuts and bolts basic stuff that has been getting left behind,"  he said.

The hire is a provisional one, Cullinane said, because the position requires someone who has passed a fire marshal civil service exam, which has not been offered recently in Suffolk County.