Our Team
Christopher J. Cotter
Christopher Cotter served as the administrator for the City of Summit, NJ from 2005 - 2015. He was responsible for 200 full-time employees, a municipal budget of $45 million and an annual capital budget of $6 million. He also served as the City’s Emergency Management Coordinator from 2006 - 2015.
During the period 2003 – 2005 he served as the director of Summit’s Department of Community Services, responsible for public works, engineering, and code enforcement. From 1976 – 2003 he served as a member of the Summit Fire Department; the last ten years as chief. He holds undergraduate degrees in fire science and public administration and a graduate degree in administrative science from Fairleigh Dickinson University where he has served as an adjunct faculty member.
A graduate of the Executive Fire Officer Program at the National Fire Academy and a Chief Fire Officer designee from the Center for Public Safety Excellence, he serves as a subject matter expert for the New Jersey Civil Service Commission. He is a member of the Fire Science Advisory Board at New Jersey City University. During the period 2014 – 2016, he served as a commissioner for the Center for Public Safety Excellence – Commission on Professional Credentialing. He currently serves as an instructor in the Executive Fire Officer Program at the National Fire Academy, Emmitsburg, Maryland.
Joseph Houck
Chief Joseph Houck retired from the City of Summit, New Jersey Fire Department in 2015, having served since 1985. He was the Fire Director/ Chief for his last seven years before retirement. The combination fire department was staffed by 32 career firefighters,15 volunteer firefighters, seven civilian dispatchers and an administrative assistant.
While Fire Director/Chief, the Summit Fire Department achieved International Fire Service Accreditation through the Center for Public Safety Excellence and improved its ISO rating to Class 2. In addition, the Department participated in a shared services study with the Millburn Fire Department and implemented a regional emergency services dispatch center with the Township of Millburn and Borough of New Providence.
Chief Houck served as a Deputy Municipal Emergency Management Coordinator in Summit between 2004 and 2015. He was a member of the International Association of Fire Chiefs’ Emergency Management committee and was a member of the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security’s Emergency Services Sector Working Group.
He received a Fire Science degree from Union County College and a bachelor of arts in Public Administration from Fairleigh Dickinson University. Chief Houck is a graduate of the Executive Fire Officer Program at the National Fire Academy. He completed the Certified Public Manager program and is a certified Fire Inspector/Fire Official, Fire Instructor, Level 2 and a New Jersey Certified Emergency Manager. He worked as a contractor in the Port Authority of NY & NJ Office of Emergency Management Training and Exercise Unit from 2016 - 2022.
Richard DeGroot
Deputy Chief Rick DeGroot retired from the City of Summit NJ Fire Department after a 36-year career. The Summit Fire Department, a combination department staffed by thirty-two career members, 15 volunteer members and 7 support staff, serves an urban/suburban area 15 miles west of New York City in the NY/NJ Metro Area. The department handles an average of 2400 fire, rescue and first-responder EMS calls per year while serving a population of approximately 21,000 in the first-due area. The agency promotes the use of and actively participates in several automatic aid and mutual aid agreements with surrounding fire agencies.
While serving as Accreditation Manager, DC DeGroot successfully guided the agency through the Commission on Fire Accreditation International (CFAI) agency accreditation process and the agency was awarded Accredited Agency status in August of 2011. Prior to his retirement, he successfully guided the department through the Insurance Services Office (ISO) review process achieving a Public Protection Classification rating of Class 2, one of only 18 communities in the state to have achieved this prestigious rating.
Deputy Chief DeGroot served as a senior fire instructor for more than a decade with the Sussex County Fire Academy and Sussex County Community College. He holds multiple Pro Board and IFSAC professional certifications including Fire Instructor Level 2, Fire Official, and Fire Officer Level 1 and is a graduate of the Certified Public Manager program at Fairleigh Dickinson University. He is currently employed by the Chester County PA Department of Emergency Services serving as a fire instructor at the Public Safety Training Academy with a concentration on developing and presenting fire officer development and leadership curriculum.