Tewksbury Fire Captain Joseph Kearns was promoted to Chief of Department on January 5th. He began as a call firefighter in the late 80's and has progressed up during his 30+ year career. Kearns served as the President of IAFF Local 1647 for the past 14 years and will now sit on the other side of the table to make sure the brothers and sisters are treated fairly. Chief Kearns is the son of a very proud, Lt. Edward Kearns, who retired from Tewksbury FD in 2002, after 32 years of dedicated service.