200+ Years of Chief Engineers of the Paterson Fire Department

Cumulative Total of 44 Chiefs

Photos at Bottom of Page

Volunteer Era (1815-1890) and Paid Era (after November 1890)
Over 218 Cumulative Years  ​

Volunteer Fire Department
1815 – March 1890
​33 Different Chief Engineers

 
Timothy B. Crane: 1821-26, 1834, 1838-40, 1843-44, 1847  - 1st Chief - Multiple terms
Andrew Parsons: 1827
​John Bates: 1829-1830, 1832, 1837
Josiali M. Crismond: 1831
John Sloat: 1833
Cornelius Speer: 1835
Horatio Moses: 1836
William Cundell: 1840-1842 - First Chief elected by FD members
John Ackerson: 1845
Thomas O. Smith: 1848-1852
Patrick Curran: 1853
Thompson Titus: 1854
William Sykes: 1855-1856
John Bowering: 1857-1858
James A. King: 1859
James McKiernan: 1861                                                                                                        Peter Fields: 1862
William Killen: 1863-1864
​Edward Swift: 1865
Daniel McClorey: 1866
Andrew Moser: 1867
John McKiernan: 1868
Patrick Sweeney: 1869
Edward Gore: 1870
James Atchison: 1971
William Martin: 1872
James I. King: 1873-1874 - first chief elected for a two-year term
John Regner: 1875-1876
David I. Turnbull: 1877-1878 (1st term)
​Bartholomew Reilly: 1879-1880
Leonard Garrison: 1881-1882
John MacDonald: 1883-1884
James Kearney: 1885-1886
John Stagg: 1887-1888                                                                                                          David I. Turnbull: 1888-1889 (2nd Term)

Partially Paid Department - March 1890 – October 1895 
Fully Paid Department - November 1895
12 Chief Engineers

David I. Turnbull:  March 20 1890 - May 5, 1890 (left due to illness)                    
John Stagg: May 6, 1891 - July 1, 1912
Thomas L. Coyle: July 1, 1912 - September 1, 1946
James J. Troy: September 1, 1946 - January 10, 1951 (died in office)                                          G. Hobart Strathearn: February 1, 1952 - April 29, 1959 (died in office)                                  Harold J. Kane: April 14, 1960 - January 6, 1984
​William J. Comer: February 22, 1985 - February 28, 1990
John A. Mauro: April 9, 1990 - January 1, 1996
James Pasquariello: January 1, 1998 - February 1, 2004
Michael Postorino: February 5, 2005 -December 31, 2017
​Brian J. McDermott: January 1, 2018 - August 30, 2023
Alejandro Alicea: November 29, 2023 -
​

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Click on the photos below to enlarge the Chief Portraits

Volunteer Department Era

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Paid Department Era