GROVELAND — Fire Chief Robert Valentine is stepping down after he was diagnosed with an incurable lung disease.
“After serving for nearly 50 years as a firefighter, my body was starting to show the telltale signs of my career,” Valentine said in a statement released Monday.
Questions emerged recently regarding Valentine’s sudden departure.
“This was devastating news. I am a stubborn firefighter. It is my life’s work, and I had no intention of leaving the job I love,” said Valentine, who explained he was diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis – a chronic, incurable progressive lung disease.
Valentine, 62, said he previously informed town officials of his diagnosis and was cleared by his doctor to continue working while taking medication.
In November 2024, during a visit to his doctor for a seasonal respiratory infection, there were inconsistencies with his chest X-ray and he was referred to a pulmonologist.
In late June, Valentine said he worked as a mutual aid firefighter at two building fires in Georgetown and West Newbury.
“I became progressively sicker after each fire, and my wife – who generally has my well-being in mind much more than I do – made an appointment for me to visit again with my pulmonologist,” Valentine said.
“At the doctor’s appointment on July 16, I was handed a letter from my doctor informing me that she deemed my career in the fire service to be over effective immediately due to the sudden progression of my lung disease. My doctor informed me that she determined that continuing my career would be ‘counterproductive’ to the treatment of my disease,” he said.
Valentine said he notified Groveland Town Administrator Rebecca Oldham of his diagnosis July 20. He was then placed on sick leave.
On July 21, he told the Fire Department.
“That evening, the firefighters moved me to tears when they had me make my final radio call over the airwaves, and then they drove me to my home in Groveland aboard Engine 3, the newest fire truck in our fleet, where more than a dozen of my fellow fire chiefs were waiting,” he said.
Valentine said the fire service “is a noble calling, staffed by good and decent human beings who, regardless of whether they are career, call or volunteer firefighters, respond day in and day out to all manner of emergencies in our communities. It has been the honor of a lifetime to serve alongside these dedicated men and women for the past 47 years, and I will miss reporting for work every day.”
Valentine’s employment contract with Groveland, signed in February 2025, provides an annual salary of $100,415 for fiscal 2026. He was sworn in as chief in 2019, with nearly four decades of experience in fire service at the time.
The Groveland Select Board is expected to discuss the official appointment of an interim fire chief at its next meeting Aug. 3.
“While this chapter has ended sooner than I expected, I leave knowing I was fortunate to spend nearly five decades serving others in a profession I loved,” Valentine said.
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