QUINCY, MA — Jack Cadegan was choked up seconds after he was sworn-in as Quincy's new fire chief.
"I promised my wife I wouldn't cry," he said as he thanked city officials and firefighters gathered at City Hall Monday.
Cadegan, a 33-year veteran of Quincy's Fire Department, will now lead the more than 200 strong department. He replaces former chief Joe Barron who retired after a 40-year career in July.
"I'm very grateful to the mayor for this appointment its a humbling experience," Cadegan said. "We're very lucky we get to go out and help people, but we get to do with some of the finest people."
Quincy Mayor Thomas Koch said he appointed Cadegan to the $172,000 a year job from three internal finalists. Koch said the city hired an outside firm, Public Safety Consultants, to do the assessment of the candidates which included the state's civil service exams for chiefs.
"Jack is a quiet leader, he's a very effective leader. He's a well respected," Koch said. "I think he's got the perfect temperament to lead the department."
Quincy Firefighters Local 792, the union that represents the city's firefighters, approved of Koch's choice.
"Chief Cadegan has worked side by side with us as a firefighter for more than 30 years, and we are thrilled he's now leading the department," the union said in a statement. "He has the respect of all us on the job, he knows the demands of a growing city and he knows it what it takes for us to our jobs safely every day. We applaud Mayor Koch on the appointment and congratulate Chief Cadegan."
The union's president, Paul Moody, said that Cadegan has come up through the ranks ad that they were excited for him to take over.
Cadegan, 63, said he was inspired by his father Frank to become a firefighter. Cadegan had been a carpenter before making a career change in 1985 when he was 30. He said his father steered him toward civil service.
"I'm so glad I listened," Cadegan said. "He knew something that I didn't know. The older I get, the smarter he becomes."
Cadegan said that it was his wife Karen who talked him into taking on a leadership role in the department. He became a fire lieutenant in 2007 and three years later made captain. He became a deputy fire chief in in 2014.
The Quincy-native said that his primary concern was safety for the city and his firefighters. Cadegan referenced the recent death of Worcester firefighter Christopher Roy as an example of how dangerous the job can be.
He said that training will be a point of emphasis during his time as chief.
"We have to train, so the guys know (every protocol). That's going to be one priority, training," Cadegan said. "That makes it safer for everyone."
Over his three decade-long career Cadegan said that the job of firefighter has remained mostly the same except for some newer materials that burn in a fire. He said when he started his career as a firefighter, fires involved wood and cotton and more natural products. With the acceleration of more synthetic and plastic products in homes and businesses, he said firefighters face a new challenge of chemical exposure.
"It's literally killing a lot of our firefighters," Cadegan said. "Every house fire now is a hazardous material incident."
Cadegan said that cancer is surpassing heart disease as the cause of death for firefighters. He said that when he started firefighters wouldn't wear masks when fighting fires, but that safety protocols have improved. He said that safety procedures have also improved over the years with newer devices at fire-stations that suck up fire engine exhaust and awareness about firefighters properly wearing masks.
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