By: Maria Allard | Roseville-Eastpointe Eastsider | Published March 14, 2025
EASTPOINTE — With the recent appointment of Jason Clark to fire chief, the Eastpointe Fire and Rescue Department promoted several other officers.
Firefighters, their families and city officials gathered at the fire station March 5 for a promotions ceremony in which Clark was sworn in to his new positions along with new Battalion Chief Jason Frattini, new Lt. Mike Szczesniak and new Sgt. Brian Damm. Also recognized was firefighter/paramedic Matt Sucharski, who just came off his 18-month probationary tenure.
“I had the privilege of working with him the last year and a half. He’s been a great asset to our department,” Clark said. “It’s a big accomplishment. It’s not an easy task to take on, and he did it graciously, and he did it very well.”
Sucharski is ready for the next step.
“I work with a great group of guys. I had a lot of good mentors,” Sucharski said. “I really look forward to a successful career with them.”
The ceremony got underway when police chaplains Albert Rush and Marc Mayes offered opening prayers, stepping in for fire chaplain Kevin Lancaster, who was unable to attend. During the morning, the firefighters received their new badges and each rang the department’s bell to signify their promotions. The firefighters have completed various levels of schooling and earned departmental awards over the years. Clark shared brief stories of each of them.
Damm was hired in August 2014.
“He’s one of the calm, cool heads in this department. He will help you out with anything and everything,” Clark said. “Brian has a unit citation and lifesaving award. The unit citation I was on with Brian was a house fire where a woman was trapped at Lexington and Semrau. She was a 68-year-old woman trapped in a house. Brian didn’t hesitate, went in there and grabbed her out.”
Szczesniak, who assists in many capacities, also was credited for saving a resident from another house fire.
“One of the runs he was on, a family was trapped in a house here,” Clark said. “The crew altogether did an excellent job, but Mike was able to grab the dad of the household out by himself and bring him downstairs. Mike’s a heck of a guy to have around.”
Frattini, named firefighter of the year in 2016, “comes from a long line of firefighters,” Clark said.
“He’s been a great asset here. He can tell you the history about anything. He can tell you where all the stations are in the county and Wayne County. He’s got a passion, to say the least, about fire service,” Clark said. “He’s a very educated individual. We are very, very happy to have Frattini stepped into this role.”
During the event, Deputy Chief/Fire Marshal Alton Polk welcomed Clark into his new role as fire chief.
“Jason and I got hired together in 2006, so we’ve been on the job 19 years now. I consider him a good friend, and we came up the ranks together,” Polk said. “I have no doubt that in this new challenge, with the support of his wife, Amber, and two sons, Easton and Kody, that he will be successful. I am very honored to introduce him as our new fire chief.”