by Laura Glesby The New Haven independent
The Board of Alders unanimously approved Daniel Coughlin’s appointment as fire chief Monday night.
A lifelong New Havener and a fourth-generation New Haven Fire Department member, Coughlin said he intends to lead the department with a profound sense of local pride.
“I believe in New Haven, and I believe in getting New Haveners into the New Haven Fire Department,” Coughlin said after the alders’ meeting concluded.
His swearing-in ceremony is scheduled to take place at 11 a.m. Tuesday at City Hall.
Coughlin has served as the fire department’s assistant chief of operations for the past three years. He has filled in as acting chief for the past three months after former Chief John Alston retired in January following nearly ten years in the top job. Mayor Justin Elicker tapped Coughlin to be the city’s next permanent fire chief in late January.
Born in Fair Haven, Coughlin has lived in Wooster Square for the past 29 years. He has risen through the ranks of the New Haven Fire Department (NHFD) since joining nearly 24 years ago.
He received the department’s Medal of Valor in 2011 and was named Firefighter of the Year in 2021. He served as the founding president of the City of New Haven Firefighters Emerald Society, an Irish cultural society offering aid to firefighters and community organizations. He also formerly served on the executive board of the firefighters’ union, Local 825.
Coughlin has pledged to ramp up the department’s recruitment of New Haven residents by increasing outreach at local schools and community gatherings.
He is seeking to revive old traditions unique to the NHFD, such as acknowledging radio messages by responding “99” instead of “roger” or “10-4.”
He has also named firefighters’ mental health as a top priority for his tenure as chief.
“We lost 5 firefighters” in recent years, said Coughlin. He said that he has heard persistently about a need for more support of firefighters’ mental well-being. “The younger generation is more about the work-life balance,” he said.
He has begun implementing new internal mental health trainings, a peer support initiative, and a revival of the department’s chaplaincy program.
East Rock Alder Anna Festa: “Having a New Haven kid be chief of the New Haven Fire Department is a great reflection of our city and our Fire Department.”
During the Board of Alders meeting in the Aldermanic Chamber of City Hall on Monday, alders heralded former Chief Alston while praising Coughlin’s deep roots in the NHFD.
“Chief Alston promised to raise up a fire chief from within the New Haven ranks, and he delivered,” said Aldermanic Affairs Committee Chair and Edgewood Alder Evette Hamilton.
Majority Leader and Westville/Amity Alder Richard Furlow said that Coughlin’s appointment is a “wonderful transition from our former fire department chief, who has done an excellent job through the years.”
Coughlin’s priorities are “everything that we believe in on this board as well,” said East Rock Alder Anna Festa. “He obviously learned really well from our former Chief Alston,” she said, adding that his career shows that “growth in the department is possible.”
“Having a New Haven kid be chief of the New Haven Fire Department is a great reflection of our city and our Fire Department,” said Festa.