Longtime fire chief leaves his mark
By Jeff Gallatin
Bay Village
Published April 12, 2006

Retiring Bay Fire Chief Greg Jackson at a recent city fish fry.

In a job where seconds can make the difference between life and death, retiring Bay Village Fire Chief Greg Jackson has stood the test of time.

After serving 27 years as chief and 34 on the department, Jackson has filed his retirement papers and left the fire station headquarters on Wolf Road, which was opened shortly after he joined the department in 1972. Jackson has stayed as chief of his department while more than 30 chiefs have come and gone in surrounding Westshore cities.

“It’s been a pretty good run,” Jackson said. “I’ve enjoyed the job and working with all the different firefighters and people in the city.”

A graduate of North Olmsted High School, Jackson said he never lost his interest in firefighting after starting his work in the field in the Air Force. He followed that up by serving on the firefighting team at NASA and then taking his job as a Bay Village city firefighter.

“I’ve always enjoyed that there is something different just about all the time with the different incidents that you can see as a firefighter,” Jackson said. “The excitement of dealing with the different problems and working with the firefighters is something special.”

Like many safety service workers who retire, Jackson said he will miss his fellow firefighters the most.

“I’ll miss just walking into the fire station, sitting down and having a cup of coffee while we talk about what we need to do in the department,” Jackson said

Fire Captain Jim Sammon said Jackson blends an easy-going manner with a vast knowledge of the job to come up with his effective leadership style.

“He can be very laidback, but there’s no mistaking who’s the chief,” Sammon said. “He has a way of getting people to cooperate and work together whether it’s in the station or at the scene of an accident or fire.”

Lt. Tom Boatwright said with just a few exceptions, Jackson hired most members of the department.

“He knows what each person is like and works with them in the way which will get the best from each person,” Boatwright said. “He’s also great because he has no problem with it if someone else comes up with a good idea. He makes sure it gets done and that the person who had the idea gets the credit for it.”

Sammon said part of Jackson’s strong rapport with the other firefighters comes from his going directly from firefighter to chief.

“He appreciates the work the guys do and they know it,” Sammon said. “He’s always been able to communicate with people in the department or in the community at any level,”

Jackson said there wasn’t much choice for him but to lead when he took the job as chief.

“None of the ranking officers wanted to take the chief’s test, so that threw it open to the men with the rank of firefighter,” Jackson said.  “The position was open for a few months, so when I got the job and walked into the office for the first time as chief it was a little scary. It’s like going from an apprentice to being the one doing the teaching and having the knowledge in a big hurry.”

Mayor Deborah Sutherland said Jackson has knowledge to spare and has used it to better the region.

“He was instrumental in the behind-the-scenes setup of the new central dispatch center at the (St. John’s West Shore) hospital,” Sutherland said. “We’re going to miss him a lot, but he’s left behind a very professional group that’s he’s trained through the years.”

Other officials also respect Jackson.

“Greg’s very good at his job and at working with other people,” said North Olmsted Fire Chief Tom Klecan. “He’s a big part of why the different departments in the Westshore work so well together on mutual aid calls and in other situations.

“When he set up the We Share program which established common procedures and treatments, it made it a lot easier for the different departments and hospitals,” Klecan said. “Everybody was on the same page and knew what was being done. It’s made a big difference to a lot of people, both the people doing the work and the people they had to treat.”