Suburban Indianapolis fire chief named state fire marshal

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - A suburban Indianapolis fire chief is set to become Indiana’s next state fire marshal.

Gov. Eric Holcomb announced Wednesday that he had appointed Plainfield Fire Chief Joel Thacker to oversee the state agency that investigates suspicious fires, promotes fire prevention and enforces safety codes in public buildings. Thacker will begin his new duties April 6.

Holcomb said Thacker has “risen through the ranks to bring 28 years of fire and emergency response experience” to his new position.

Thacker began his career as a first responder in 1992 as an EMT and volunteer firefighter in central Indiana. Five years later, he became a firefighter, first serving in Brownsburg and then Johnson County’s White River Township. He then became an assistant chief in Brownsburg before moving to Plainfield in 2015 to become division chief of fire prevention and administration.

He was sworn in as fire chief in Plainfield, a suburb just southwest of Indianapolis, in 2017.

Thacker will succeed former South Bend fire chief Stephen Cox, who Holcomb appointed executive director of the Indiana Department of Homeland Security in January, three months after the governor named him to the state fire marshal post.