Former Columbus fire chief steps down as head of homeland security

A former Columbus fire chief is stepping down as head of the state homeland security department to take a new job in Carmel.

Indiana Department of Homeland Security executive director Joel Thacker is stepping down and will become the new fire chief in Carmel. Governor Eric Holcomb says the Indianapolis suburb is “fortunate to have him” and says Thacker has been “a consistently effective leader when Hoosiers needed it most.” Holcomb had appointed Thacker to the job in June 2022.

Thacker previously served briefly as the chief of the Columbus Fire Department. He served in Columbus for about four months, from May to September in 2012 under former Mayor Kristen Brown. Thacker started as a career firefighter in Brownsburg and then Johnson County’s White River Township. He moved to the Plainfield department in 2015 and became chief there in 2017. In 2020, Holcomb appointed Thacker as the state fire marshal.

According to the governor’s office, Thacker will start the Carmel job September 3.