By Dirk Perrefort
The News-Times
BETHEL, Conn. — Former Stony Hill Volunteer Fire Chief James Belot gave countless hours of service and dedication to the organization before his death earlier this week.
Chief Belot, who first began his service with the Bethel Volunteer Fire Department in 1964, died on Monday after a courageous battle with cancer. Belot was inducted into the Connecticut State Firefighter Association Hall of Fame in 2013.
“He served the department well, and found great happiness in his last year as a friend and mentor to the department, noted a statement on his passing on the department’s Facebook page.
Belot served with the Bethel Volunteer Department in the downtown for more than a decade before transitioning to the Stony Hill Volunteer Fire Company in 1974. It was four short years later that he was named chief of the organization, a position that he held until 1983.
Belot briefly served again as chief of the department in 2004, when they were transitioning to a new headquarters on Stony Hill. Current Fire Chief Tom Galliford said Belot was instrumental in the transition to the new building, spending countless hours setting up and organizing the moving process.
While he became officially inactive from the department in 2005, officials said Belot continued to offer his services to the department, including helping with the construction of training building at the Danbury Fire School. He also became the “Chief Cook” on Monday nights at the Stony Hill firehouse.
“He brought a new sense of camaraderie and brotherhood back to the department,” fire department officials said in a statement.
Besides serving with the fire department, Belot ran a successful construction company in town along with his son for many years.
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