Jason Cotton, a 27-year Odessa Fire Rescue veteran, promised to build a positive culture within the department after being named chief Friday afternoon.
Cotton followed his father and his brother into the fire service, joining the department in January 1996. His father, Hyram Cotton Jr., served the department from 1964 to 1994, and James Cotton was with OFR 1988-2018.
After John Alvarez retired in January, Cotton was named interim chief. He spent 12 years as a firefighter before rising to the ranks of assistant chief. He told the crowd gathered Friday he stepped down because he missed riding on fire trucks, but he ultimately raised through the ranks again.
His promotion comes days after an attorney hired by the city, Tommy Sheen, stood before the city council and blasted past OFR leadership for what he described as poorly-run cadet program.
Sheen also accused Alvarez of trying to cover up an incident in which 13 cadets badly burned their hands on asphalt during a training exercise last August. The incident happened during four days of hazing, he said.
Alvarez has denied covering up the incident.
A now-retired training chief received a five-day suspension in connection with the injuries and a training captain received a written reprimand.
Cotton told the firefighters, city council members and public gathered at the event he is focusing on the future.
“We have promotions to make. Positions to fill. People to hire and lots and lots of training for every member … I want to get every member of Odessa Fire Rescue up to speed so we can be the best that we can be for our community,” Cotton said.
He wants the department to be on the cutting edge and using best practices, he said.
“I want to positively build up the culture of our department and bring assurance to the employees of OFR that we are family and when I say that, it’s not just a statement,” Cotton said. “I mean it. What affects one of us, affects all of us. None of us is alone in what we face when we show up for work.”
When a sense of belonging is fostered within the department, customers are better served, he said.
Some of his best childhood memories are of visiting the fire station with his mom, Yvonne, Cotton said.
All of the “older, bigger, stronger” firefighters would pick him up by the ankles and otherwise “mess” with him, he said.
“I loved every minute of it,” he said.
Interim City Manager Agapito Bernal told the crowd he was looking for someone “who can face challenges and adversity and not flinch.”
“We all know the reputation of our public safety is that they run towards danger and this is what we wanted our fire chief to embody, confident, honesty, that could provide us leadership,” Bernal said. “But most important thing out of everything is that we want to move forward into a bright tomorrow, to this bright future. That we leave this place better than when we got here.”
Cotton “embodies stable and stability and integrity and stands by his word” and is passionate about both the organization and OFR, Bernal said.
