by Thomas Breen
Fire Chief John Alston plans to retire at the end of January, bringing an end to his nearly ten-year tenure leading the city’s fire department.
Alston announced his coming retirement in an email letter sent to New Haven Fire Department personnel and city fire commissioners on Monday morning.
Alston confirmed his Jan. 31, 2026 retirement plans in a follow-up call with the Independent. He said that he will continue to write books, lecture, and travel with family after he steps down from the job.
“Every firefighter knows their ‘numbers,’ and while this decision comes with mixed emotions, the time has come for me to begin a new chapter,” Alston wrote. “After more than 40 years in the fire service and with gratitude for having reached 65 years of life, I reflect with humility and appreciation on a career filled with both triumphs and challenges. I am especially thankful for the nearly ten years I have had the honor of serving alongside you as Chief, working together in service to the great City of New Haven.”
Then-Mayor Toni Harp first appointed Alston to serve as the city’s fire chief in 2016 after he retired from a 31-year career with the Jersey City, N.J. fire department. Current Mayor Justin Elicker reappointed him to a new four-year term in 2022. The Board of Alders unanimously approved his 2016 appointment and his 2022 reappointment.
The final day of Alston’s current term is Jan. 31, 2026 — the same day he plans to retire.
During the 2022 reappointment process, Alston’s supporters praised him for diversifying the department, improving its technological capabilities, and leading it ably through a number of crises — including the mass K2 poisoning on the Green in 2018, the on-duty death of Firefighter Ricardo Torres in May 2021, and the Covid-19 pandemic. During that same reappointment process, the then-leadership of the fire union criticized him for not responding quickly enough to fixing over 100 broken fire hydrants and for failing to do enough to lift morale at a time when many of its members were hurting.
In an interview Monday, Alston cited those same “major events” as defining moments of his tenure.
“All in all, I love this city. I love the people in this city,” Alston said, while thanking Mayor Harp, Mayor Elicker, and the alders for the opportunity to become the “first outside chief” in the department’s 155-year history.
“I’m very happy for him,” city fire commission Chair David Hartman said on Monday. Alston “has been incredibly successful at this for many years. He’s still a firefighter at heart, [and a] great administrator as well. … He’s given himself to New Haven. I just wish him well in his retirement.”
Hartman said he found out about Alston’s coming retirement in Monday’s email. Fellow city fire commissioner Kelcy Steele said the same. “I was shocked to receive that news today through email,” Steele said. “I definitely believe he was a great chief, great for the city of the New Haven. We’re definitely going to miss his service.”
Miguel Rosado, who became the president of the fire union in January of this year, confirmed that he too found out about Alston’s coming retirement in Monday’s email. In his limited time as fire union president so far, Rosado said, “we had some fairly decent interactions. I wish him well on his retirement and his future endeavors.”
Rosado, Hartman, and fire commissioner Barbara Vereen each said they’d like to see the city’s next fire chief come from within the department — “homegrown,” as Rosado put it. Vereen, who praised Alston for being a helpful and clear communicator, also urged the city to “look internally” for the next chief.
Elicker, who will be responsible for choosing the next fire chief pending aldermanic review, said he hasn’t yet made a decision about how to fill the role once Alston departments. He said the city likes to “hire internally when we can,” but he hasn’t decided yet on next steps.
“Chief Alston has been fantastic,” Elicker said, describing how he led the department through Covid and “through some challenging times with significant loss” of some rank-and-file members “under tragic circumstances.”
What advice does Alston have for whoever fills this role next?
“Always do a 360,” Alston said. Firefighters undertake such an approach — evaluating a fire from all sides, all angles — when responding to a blaze. The next chief should “apply that logic to every situation: Take a look from the other person’s side of view,” looking at every situation “from all angles.”
To the next fire chief, he concluded, “you’re inheriting a great department.”