New chiefs join Southfield Fire Department

SOUTHFIELD — Ever since he was a kid watching the television show “Emergency!,” Joey Thorington knew he wanted to become a firefighter. In his senior year of high school, he began working as a firefighter for the forestry department in White Cloud.

From there, he moved to a few different departments before spending 24 years in Dearborn, working up the ranks until he eventually became the city’s deputy fire chief.

Recently, he was hired to serve as Southfield’s Fire Chief.

“I couldn’t be happier. I fell into one of the best cities in the state of Michigan and the midwest,” he said.

Joining him is Deputy Chief Mark Jackson, who was hired to the department at the same time as Thorington.

“I’m elated. I’m ecstatic … The opportunity itself is just phenomenal,” he said.

Jackson was active in the Detroit Police Explorer Program as a kid. The last year he went to the camp, he scored high enough that he and three other students were sent to a national conference in South Carolina.

“From that point it was like, you know what? I have to do something extra, because people growing up in my area, they don’t get to experience stuff like this,” he said.

From there he enlisted in the U.S. Marines, and when he got out of the service, he applied for both the police and fire academies. The fire academy was the first to contact him, he said, and he decided to complete the academy.

Jackson worked for several stations around Detroit, gaining experience and advancing through the ranks. He ran for a union office position and began focusing his time on public outreach.

“There was a time where I did fire suppression and rescue and on my leave time, I just did community relations, just because there were so many people that needed the information,” he said.

Jackson said his experience in Detroit helped to prepare him to take the position in Southfield.

“Southfield is a smaller community, but it’s a community that needs competent servicemen and women,” he said.

Thorington said Southfield is similar to Dearborn, which helped there to not be any surprises when he started at the department.

“I did a lot of research before I applied, so there weren’t any surprises in that respect,” he said. “Any time you come to a new department, there’s always a ton of different processes and procedures and I’m learning all of those. But as far as anything surprising in the department or the city, no.”

In their first weeks on the job, both chiefs commended the rest of the staff for their training and professionalism.

“We’re one of the highest recognized departments in southeast Michigan as far as our training, our tech rescue teams. We’ve got one of the nicest facilities in Michigan, if not the midwest, behind the building for a training center. But the professionalism of the firefighters is above all of that,” he said.

Going forward, Thorington said that even though the department is already well-recognized, he wants to look into ways the department can increase efficiency, including evaluating its response model.

“It’s a highly recognized department for being one of the best in the area,” he said. “We’re going to build on that.”

Thorington added that he hopes to add another ambulance and make all of the engines Advanced Life Support-certified.

Jackson said he hopes to be able to build on the relationship between the chiefs and the firefighters.

“We introduced ourselves but, in the end, I’m hoping that the message that was driven to our personnel is that we know you’re good at what you do. We want to help you be greater at what you do,” he said.

Southfield City Council approved the city administrator’s recommended appointment of both chiefs at its April 28 meeting.