2 New Haveners Promoted To Asst. Fire Chief, Asst. Drillmaster

Two New Haven natives have been promoted to top spots in the city’s fire department, with Dan Coughlin filling the role of assistant chief of operations and Shytan Floyd becoming assistant drillmaster. 

Mayor Justin Elicker swore those two individuals into their new jobs Tuesday afternoon in a promotion ceremony on the first floor of City Hall. 

“This is a moment for us to reflect on the service so many individuals give to the community,” he stated to the audience of public safety officers and their families who attended the swearing-in. ​“Every day you put yourselves at risk for all of our safety.”

He then asked the each newly promoted fire department staffer to raise their right hand and promise to ​“faithfully and impartially perform the duties” of each respective job ​“to the best of my abilities, and according to the law, and that I will at all times strive to use the power entrusted to me as such officer for the best interest of the city so help me god.”

Daniel Coughlin, a 21-year veteran of the New Haven Fire Department (NHFD), will jump immediately into the position of assistant chief of operations following the retirement of Terrence Rountree, who departed from the role on Feb. 13. 

“This is a guy who’s from New Haven through and through,” Fire Chief John Alston said of Coughlin. 

While Alston said he intends to do a nationwide search for a second assistant chief position that will soon open when Assistant Chief of Administration Justin McCarthy leaves the post for another job in Greenwich, he had to hire internally for the assistant chief of operations in alignment with the department’s union contract. 

Alston said he was choosing between two candidates: Deputy Chief Bruce Galaski and Coughlin himself.

“It was a tough decision,” he said. ​“They’re both excellent at what they do.”

He said he went with Coughlin not only due to his ​“technical acumen but his long-standing service in the city of New Haven. His commitment to the city speaks volumes to me.”

On Tuesday, Coughlin, 49, was joined by his father, William Coughlin. Both worked in the Lombard Street fire station, with the elder retiring in 1998. Coughlin, who grew up in Fair Haven, is the product of multiple generations of family who have served in public safety roles in New Haven. His grandfather, for example, was a police detective in the city. 

Coughlin, meanwhile, has worked as a lieutenant, captain and battalion chief during his 21 years in New Haven’s fire department.

As he sets out on his new job of determining daily operations, such as day-to-day fire ground training, and responding to technical calls and multiple alarm fires, Coughlin said his aim is ​“just to get all these men and women home safely.”

Shytan Floyd, meanwhile, was sworn in as the second woman and second woman of color to take on the title of assistant drillmaster in the history of the department.

In that role, she will oversee training logistics for all of the department’s firefighters, help with recruitment of new hires, and oversee procurement and maintenance of equipment.

Prior to joining the department five years back, during which time she has worked as an adjunct temporary drillmaster and a driver for Engine 15, Floyd worked at the community health clinic BHCare as an intervenor in domestic violence disputes and substance abuse issues.

“I was born and raised here with no ambition of being a firefighter,” Floyd said. ​“We didn’t know you could do that!” she said of the girls and women she grew up with in New Haven.

She said she hopes her promotion will show ​“other women of color in the city that this is possible.” 

“It’s like a seesaw,” she said of working in the department. ​“When you’re up, you’re up. But you have to have thick skin. Working in a male-dominated population is not always the easiest.”

“We serve all types of people in the community,” she said, and there should be a variety of individuals on the force to support the city’s diverse population. ​“At the end of the day we’re out here saving lives.” 

“I’m ecstatic,” she said of the promotion. ​“I’m gonna rise to the top of this department! There’s no emotional test I’m not gonna take.”

“One of the reasons I was hired was to increase opportunity for New Haveners, people of color and women,” Alston noted at the end of the ceremony. Tuesday’s event marked the promotion of two individuals with roots and dedication to New Haven, he said, as well as the rare advancement of a Black woman into a role that would interact directly with every member of the department.

According to a January report of the fire department’s demographics, 27 percent of New Haven’s firefighters are Black and 57 percent are white; 27 percent of the firefighters are from New Haven; and under five percent of the firefighters are women.