Ever since he was a kid watching the television show โEmergency!,โ 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 cityโs deputy fire chief. Recently, he was hired to serve as Southfieldโs Fire Chief. โI couldnโt be happier. I fell into one of the best cities in the state of Michigan and the Midwest,โ he said.
Joining him is Deputy Chief Mark Jackson, who was hired to the department at the same time as Thorington. โIโm elated. Iโm ecstatic โฆ The opportunity itself is just phenomenal,โ 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.
