Paula Vogler Special to Wicked Local EASTON - If he had stayed with his first course of study, Fire Chief Kevin Partridge would have had a long career as an electrical engineer. Instead, after starting as a volunteer firefighter in Swansea in 1984 and switching his major to fire science, Partridge, 55, is in the midst of a long fire safety career spanning over 35 years, the last nine of which have been spent serving as Easton’s chief. “I had a friend who was looking into joining the volunteer fire department (in Swansea) and told me about it,” Partridge said. “One of the volunteers, who is now my brother-in-law, lived in our neighborhood. Once I got in Swansea, I took a whole bunch of firefighter classes.”