ORANGE, Connecticut — A longtime active member of the Orange Volunteer Fire Department passed away Tuesday after suffering a medical emergency while driving his car on Route 1 in Orange, according to a release from the department.
Kenneth Mitchell, 71, was recently honored for 50 years of service to the department. He was a past captain, the release said.
“Kenny was a firefighter’s firefighter,” Chief Vaughan Dumas said, in the release. “He remained an active firefighter in Orange as well as serving with departments in Ansonia and Derby. He also served on numerous organizations that help train firefighters and establish practices and procedures that helped make Connecticut’s fire departments among the best. His loss will be felt professionally and personally.”
According to the release, Mitchell was a second-generation firefighter who was sworn into the Orange Volunteer Fire Department on Oct. 11, 1973. He rose to the rank of captain and served as chair of the Carnival Committee and as a training officer.
Mitchell helped build and introduce the department’s first ladder truck in 1996 as a member of the apparatus specification committee, the department said.
Additionally, Mitchell served as a past captain of the Webster Hose, Hook & Ladder Company #3 of Ansonia and as a past chief driver for the Paugassett Hook & Ladder Company #4 in Derby. At the time of his death, he was president of the Valley Fire Chiefs Association and chair of the Fire School Board of Directors, according to the department.
The release said that Mitchell was a past vice president of the Connecticut State Firefighters Association and a longtime member of the New Haven County Chiefs Association.
Mitchell modernized fire training in Orange and the Lower Naugatuck Valley, according to the release, which said that he helped create rules that enabled Orange to maintain a full roster of volunteers by allowing some out-of-town firefighters. He also helped with other innovations that kept the Orange department in a high state of readiness while earning a reputation as a mentor of younger firefighters.
“Orange benefited from Mitchell’s service in many other ways,” the release said. “He served as a supernumerary police officer as well as a school bus driver. He was also a member of several other local service organizations.”
Mitchell leaves behind his wife Kim, a son Kenneth III, a daughter Kara and his mother Jean. He also had several grandchildren and is predeceased by his father, past Orange Fire Chief Ken Mitchell Sr., the department said.
Spinelli-Ricciuti Funeral Home at 62 Beaver St. in Ansonia is handling the funeral arrangements, according to the release. Calling hours will be on Monday evening, and the funeral will be on Tuesday. Services will be at the Orange Congregational Church followed by a burial at the Orange Center Cemetery. The department said the repass will be at Racebrook Country Club immediately following the graveside services.
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Dalton Zbierski is a digital content producer and writer at FOX61 News. He can be reached at dzbierski@FOX61.com.
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