RI Acting Fire Chief Retires, Won't Seek Permanent Post

CRANSTON, RI—Acting Fire Chief Paul Valletta Jr. will retire Friday and withdraw from being considered for permanent chief, the mayor's office reported in an email Sunday.

Mayor Allan Fung said Valletta notified him over the weekend that he wanted to focus on his work at the State House advocating for firefighters. Valletta is president of Cranston Local 1362 of the International Association of Fire Fighters and is legislative agent for the association.

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Valletta, hired in August 1994 and promoted to lieutenant in 2012, was deputy chief when he was suspended with pay in 2017 after an altercation with a group of on-duty firefighters who declined to participate in "passing the boot" to collect for a charity.

Fung selected Valletta for acting chief after William McKenna left the department, and there was talk about Valletta having to give up his union activities if he became chief.

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