Norita is sworn in as CNMI’s first Fire commissioner

Claudio Norita takes his oath as the first commissioner of the Department of Fire and Emergency Medical Services before Gov. Eloy S. Inos at the Fire Station in Susupe yesterday. Also in the photo are Norita’s stepmother, Rosa Lazaro, extreme left, mother Julia Norita, and his son, firefighter Cody Norita. (Ferdie Dela Torre)

The first-ever commissioner for the newly created Department of Fire and Emergency Medical Services was sworn in at the Susupe Fire Station I yesterday.

Standing before Gov. Eloy S. Inos, Lt. Gov. Ralph DLG Torres, members of the Legislature, and various government officials, Claudio Norita took his oath to faithfully discharge his duties as DFEMS commissioner.
“It’s always an honor when you’re called to public service,” Norita said in an interview following the ceremony.

Fourth oath-taking
Norita was appointed commissioner by Inos last March and was confirmed by the Senate on Friday.

Prior to this, Norita also served as executive director of the Criminal Justice Planning Agency and special assistant to the Department of Public Safety.

He was also an executive director of the Commonwealth Ports Authority. He was elected to the 14th CNMI House of Representatives and was then appointed DPS commissioner in 2008.

Firehouses and firefighters
In his speech, Norita talked about the firehouses in the CNMI as well as the firefighters manning them.

“I am proud to tell you that every firehouse is manned. They are manned by firefighters who live regular lives like the rest of us,” he said.

He encouraged the public to visit the firehouses in the CNMI to get to know the people behind the department.

On Saipan, there are 78 firefighters for six firehouses. Tinian and Rota have one firehouse each.

“This and every firehouse is your house. Mi casa, su casa. Please stop by and say hello,” Norita said.

He reported that all firefighters are EMT certified. Ninety-six percent of them have already administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation, while 35 percent helped deliver at least one baby.

But still, the department is looking forward to hiring at least 10 more firefighters under their 2016 budget.

“There’s a lot that needs to be done. Now that we’re an independent department we are able to look at the goals that we can achieve, and look at our resources and go find specific resources for fire and EMS,” he said.

Independent
With the fire department being independent, Inos is hoping that it will result in faster response time.

“Now this fire department is independent of public safety operation, which means they will operate their own budget and there’s a benefit to that,” Inos said

“Hopefully that will result in faster response. They’re doing well in the area of EMS, they’re responding well to emergency calls, any kind of assistance,” he added.

When asked what his specific instruction to Norita was, Inos said, “Put out that fire.”

“It’s always an advantage when you control your own funding. It does eliminate the layers of bureaucracy that might be involved,” Norita said.

But for the new commissioner, DPS is still a critical and vital partner in first-response. He also acknowledged that even though DFEMS got separated, they are still “under the shadow of our mother department.”

“We have to work together like Siamese twins. We might be separated financially or budget-wise but in response, we’re together out there,” Norita said.

“I want to assure everybody that the separation from DPS will not hamper the services that we are providing, both ambulance and fire protection service,” he added.