Newly appointed Boston Fire Department Commissioner Joseph Finn looks on as he is introduced by Mayor Marty Walsh at a July news conference.
Credit: Nicolaus Czarnecki/Metro
A veteran Boston firefighter who earlier this year served as the incident commander during the Back Bay blaze was announced on Monday as the agency’s new commissioner.
Deputy Chief Joseph Finn was named as the commissioner of the Boston Fire Department on Monday, Mayor Marty Walsh announced.
Finn has been a member of the department since 1984 and has risen through the ranks during his three-decade career as a firefighter. In 2001 he was promoted to deputy chief of personnel. Since 2005 he has served as a division commander in charge of various responsibilities including administrative functions, fire ground operations, hazardous materials and technical rescues.
“Chief Finn’s experience and leadership style, along with his commitment to diversity and fairness, will help move our Fire Department into an even more successful era of service to the people of Boston,” Walsh said in a statement.
A Marine who earned his bachelor’s degree from Northeastern University in 2008, Finn was one of the finalists identified by a consulting firm hired by Walsh in March to conduct a nation-wide search to find the next commissioner.
Finn will take over from Interim Commissioner John Hasson who was promoted when former commissioner Roderick Fraser resigned in January.
A formal swearing-in ceremony for Finn will take place in the coming weeks.
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