Collingswood F.D. Promotes Robert Fox to Captain

The Collingswood Fire Department added a new captain to its rolls this week: 20-year veteran Robert Fox.

Attended by family at the swearing-in ceremony, Fox took his oath at the Monday meeting of the borough commissioners on the eve of National Night Out, flanked by a roomful of Collingswood police and firefighters.

Moving from lieutenant to captain comes with numerous administrative responsibilities, Fox said, working directly with Chief Keith Davis and assisting with personnel matters.

But the career firefighter said he was "very honored to accept the promotion," and will be looking forward to "the progression of the Collingswood Fire Department.

"The fire service is very nostalgic, and what I've taken from the past captains is a lot of traditions," Fox said.

In the time since he's started in Collingswood, Fox said he's seen the local fire service expand from a nine- to a 15-man department, adding a full-time EMS squad and jumping up its shift duties to four and sometimes five staffers.

Collingswood firefighters are also frequently tapped to assist in mutual aid calls in neighboring communities, and, in times of disaster, that line of service extends further as well.

Among his career highlights, Fox led a task force of CFD members who took a trip out to Sandy-beleaguered areas of Toms River, NJ to assist with daily operations after the storm there.

Collingswood last expanded its fire service in April 2013, adding probationary full-time firefighter/EMT Timothy Tredanari.