His fire has also gone out now.
As the Washington Post learned, New York City Fire Department Deputy Chief Joseph Pfeifer was fired by new Commissioner Robert Tucker just days after taking office.
The department’s highest-paid chief – who made more than $500,000 – told colleagues on Friday that he would be forced to resign shortly after the departure of his former boss, former Commissioner Lauren Kavanagh, who hired him.
“Fire Commissioner Tucker (has informed me) that City Hall will be replacing me with a new First Assistant Commissioner,” Pfeifer, 68, wrote in a farewell email obtained by The Post.
“It has been great working with all of you over the last year and a half, and with many of you even longer.”
City Hall supports the new commissioner’s decision, said mayoral spokeswoman Liz Garcia.
“Like every commissioner before him, Commissioner Tucker will build a staff that will advance his and the administration’s vision for the FDNY,” she said.
“The department will announce any leadership changes as soon as they are official.”
Pfeifer had served in the department for 37 years until 2018, then was brought out of retirement last year to serve under the FDNY’s first female chief.
He was hired after then-Commissioner Kavanagh clashed with three of her top bosses after demoting them. It is believed that she hired Pfeifer to ensure that there was still firefighting experience in the upper ranks of the New York City Fire Department.
This made him the top earner, pocketing an incredible $522,000 because he was able to legally “double-serve” by keeping his FDNY salary of $242,727 as well as his pension from the department, which was $279,304 in fiscal year 2024.
Under Kavanagh, he directed the daily operations and activities of the FDNY in all offices and departments.
Sources told the Post that Pfeifer could be replaced by EMS Chief Michael Fields or Battalion Chief Mark Guerra.
Other shakeups include the transfer of Kavanagh’s chief of staff, Luis Martinez, a former NYPD lieutenant whose appointment had angered some veteran fire chiefs and rank-and-file firefighters, to City Hall, where he will work under Deputy Mayor Phil Banks, a source said.
Pfeifer did not respond to a request for comment.
