Mark Zaretsky, Register Staff 03/02/2005
EAST HAVEN — Fire Department brass from Meriden to Madison to Milford joined town officials and dozens of current and former town firefighters Tuesday as Douglas F. Jackson took the oath of office as fire chief.
"Congratulations, chief!" said Mayor Joseph Maturo Jr., a former firefighter himself, after swearing in Jackson, who wore his navy blue dress uniform for the occasion.
Former Mayor Bob Norman also attended.
Jackson’s father, retired Fire Marshal William Jackson, pinned his son’s new badge on, assisted in the delicate task by Jackson’s more nimble-fingered wife, Diane.
Douglas Jackson, 45, is a third-generation East Haven firefighter who began as a volunteer and has 21 years of paid experience, including 13 years as a battalion chief and seven as vice president of the firefighters union.
He succeeds Fire Chief Wayne Sandford, who retired in January to take a job as deputy director of the state Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security.
"(Maturo’s) confidence in me is inspiring — and also demanding," Jackson told about 200 people in the Main Street fire headquarters.
He promised no immediate changes, saying, "Chief Sandford has already initiated many programs, and my intention is to continue them."
Jackson talked about how, growing up with his dad, he got an early education in firefighting.
"I think as Momauguin was burning in sort of a non-choreographed redevelopment, I was getting my education in fire service," he said.
He was referring to the late 1960s and early 1970s when fights on the beach, vandalism and house fires — sometimes set with Molotov cocktails — hit East Haven’s beach area on the Fourth of July.
Jackson’s voice cracked as he recalled all the people who mentored him — including Maturo, who helped show him the ropes when Jackson was a rookie. He also lauded Assistant Chief Paul Cahill, one of the two other candidates for chief, along with Battalion Chief Robert Celentano.
William Jackson, who spoke near the end of the program, pointed out that his family has been in the East Haven fire service since 1927, when his father began working.
"We have 142 years between the three of us," he said.
Besides his father and his wife, Chief Jackson was joined by daughters Lauren, 9, and Isabella, 1, and other relatives.
Mark Zaretsky can be reached at mzaretsky@nhregister.comor 789-5722.
İNew Haven Register 2005