“His dedication to continuous improvement and professional development has established a legacy of success for many years to come,” Thonnerieux said. “Within the fire service, Chief Kujawa is known as a forward thinking and dedicated professional who is always willing to lend his expertise and knowledge to fellow fire departments throughout the region and state.
“He is a compassionate leader, a team player, and will be deeply missed.”
Kujawa, a Centerville High School graduate, earned an associate’s degree in fire science and a bachelor’s degree in fire administration from from Columbia Southern University.
He joined the fire department as a volunteer and part-time firefighter/paramedic in 1992 and became a full-time firefighter in 1998 and then a lieutenant in 2006. Kujawa also served as administrative captain and shift commander for eight years before being appointed as deputy chief in charge of operations in 2015.
Kujawa said he put a strong emphasis on professional development during his tenure as fire chief.
“All of our fire officers have degrees now,” he said. “Numerous officers hold credentials as a fire officer, chief fire officer, fire marshal, chief training officer, chief EMS officer, and those are all through the (Center on Public Safety Excellence’s) Commission on Professional Credentialing, but (our members) hold the most credentials in the state of Ohio.”
In 2022, the department received state recognition with one of the Ohio Fire Service’s highest honors: Ohio Fire Department of the Year.
Kujawa said that since he became chief, he has hired or promoted approximately 45 people, helped it design and build a new fire station, which is set to open later this fall, and helped spearhead an effort that culminated in voters approving a fire levy in 2022, which allowed the department to create 30 new full-time positions.
“We’ve completed that task of hiring those and we transitioned from we used to be, a mostly part time/full-time combination department ... to more of a full-full time department,” he said.
The fire service, Kujawa said, “is like is a secondary family” to him.
“I’m just proud of our team ... and what they contributed to the community and our department on a daily basis,” he said, his voice filled with emotion. “They have a very difficult job and they stand up every day and do a fantastic job for our community.”
Kujawa said it’s been “a great career” with the township.
“I’m very lucky to work for this fire department and the township itself has been great to me and my family over the last 32 years and I truly appreciate that,” he said. “The township trustees five years ago had a lot of confidence to promote me to fire chief and I appreciate their support and leadership in the township, and I’m grateful for the opportunities they given me throughout my career.”
The decision to leave the department was “very difficult,” Kujawa said.
“It’s important for me to to spend more time with my family and we’re gonna do a little traveling and then you know,” he said. “I’ll just see where my next chapter in life goes.”
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