Gloucester Council Commends Retired Deputy Chief Who Rescued Two from Burning Building

GLOUCESTER -- January 14, 2025, Gloucester City Council unanimously honored retired Deputy Fire Chief Stephen Aiello and accepted $45,000 in arts grants at its January 14 meeting. The council voted 7-0, with two members absent, on all business, opening with a formal commendation for Aiello, who left his home on December 14, 2024, after hearing a fire call on a police scanner, obtained building keys from a passerby, and entered a burning structure near the Nolan School alongside Officers Kevin Mackey, Carr, and Godenzi, rescuing two women who could not escape on their own. State Senator Bruce Tarr presented a separate Massachusetts Senate citation signed by Senate President Karen Spilka. The council also accepted two $15,000 Massachusetts Cultural Council cultural district grants, one for the downtown Harbortown district and one for Rocky Neck, which Ward 1 Councilor Scott Memhard said makes Gloucester the only Massachusetts city receiving two such grants simultaneously, and a $15,000 "Make It Public" federal grant administered by the New England Foundation for the Arts. A tense but brief procedural standoff erupted when Councilor at Large Jeff Worthley sought to debate the cost and implications of a possible $30,000 special election before the council voted to place the item on the agenda; Council President Memhard ruled that all debate must wait two weeks, and the referral passed 7-0.