MA Fire Department Swears in New Chief

QUINCY, MA — A longtime Quincy first responder from a firefighting family has been sworn in as the city's new fire chief six months after the retirement of John Cadegan.

Joe Jackson Jr., who has served as a deputy chief since 2010, was sworn in Tuesday in a private outdoor ceremony. Jackson, the son of 42-year Quincy firefighter Joseph C. Jackson Sr., was sworn in at the local nursing home where his mother is a resident.

"Quite simply, there is no one better suited to be Fire Chief than Joe Jackson," Mayor Thomas Koch said in a statement. "He loves this city, he loves his brothers on the job, and he's made it his life's work to protect the lives and property of this community. Firefighting is quite literally in his blood, and the safety of our citizens is firmly in good hands."

Jackson started at the Quincy Fire Department in 1998. He was promoted to lieutenant four years later, captain in 2007 and deputy chief in 2010.

"I am deeply humbled by this opportunity, and I look forward to helping make the department the very best it can be in the coming years," Jackson said in a statement.

Joseph C. Jackson, the new chief's father, was a deputy chief when he retired.

"I'm sure dad is looking down smiling right now," Koch said.

Thomas Bowes, the president of Quincy Firefighters Local 792, called Jackson a "firefighter's firefighter with a deep understanding and appreciation of the job."

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