More than 100 people packed into St. Croix’s Government House in Christiansted Monday to watch Steve Brow get sworn in as the new territory’s director of the V.I. Fire Service.
Although Brow was officially nominated in April and confirmed for the position in June by the 29th Legislature, the day for the official swearing-in was full of high spirits and government class in the dignified ballroom.
Although Brow’s father, Theodore, never doubted his son’s ability to become a fire chief – a position Steve Brow held from 2007 to 2010 – he was shocked to learn his son would be the territory’s director.
“This is the proudest day of my life,” Theodore Brow said. “I knew he would raise to certain heights, but as the director … No way!”
A native of St. Croix and graduate of Central High School, Steve Brow has been fighting fires since 1990, when he joined the V.I. Fire Service. He quickly moved through the ranks from private to lieutenant until he was appointed to fire chief in the St. Croix district, where he served until last year.
Brow planned to retire, but Gov. John P. deJongh Jr. was persistent and asked that he remain. DeJongh said he didn’t want Brow to leave the service and asked him three separate times to become the director, which Brow continually turned down, until last March when he finally accepted the nomination.
“I was really comfortable as the chief – I still got to move up the ranks, but I had direct contact with the guys and I really liked working with them,” Brow said. “I finally accepted the governor’s offer in April and I am very comfortable in this position – it’s more about implementing policy and I am committed in doing that.”
Brow said that he knows his career in the department and his degree in Fire Science at the University of Cincinnati have prepared him for the challenge, and he promised that he would carry out the mission and the duties of his new position with pride.
“I have the utmost confidence in my managerial team and the commitment of the firefighters territory-wide,” he said.
Brow left the podium to a huge a applause after quoting some famous lines from one of New York Fire Department’s most well-known chiefs, Edward F. Croker: “I have no ambition in this world but one, and that is to be a fireman. The position may, in the eyes of some, appear to be a lowly one; but we who know the work, which the fireman has to do believe that his is a noble calling. Our proudest moment is to save lives.”
