Peter Hayden

Vice Chairman

Chief Peter E. Hayden was a 37-year member of the New York Fire Department. He was appointed to the FDNY on November 30th, 1968. Chief Hayden’s experience includes assignments in both Brooklyn and Manhattan. He was promoted to Chief of Safety in 1995 and served in this role until his assignment to the 1st Division in 1997.

Chief Hayden was the Division Commander of the 1st Division at the time of the World Trade Center attack. As the incident commander, he led the rescue and recovery operations at Ground Zero; formulating strategy and daily operational plans, while supervising and directing approximately 1,500 firefighters and emergency service personnel.

After September 11th, Chief Hayden was designated Assistant Chief of Operations for the FDNY in November of 2001. That assignment included serving as FDNY Project Manager for The McKinsey Report Recommendations, which is a comprehensive review of operations at the World Trade Center on 9/11/01 and post-collapse operations. The Report contains recommendations to increase Department preparedness for future terrorist incidents and complex, large-scale incidents.

On June 27, 2004, Peter E. Hayden was promoted to the 32nd Chief of Department. He served in this position as the highest-ranking uniformed member of the FDNY until his retirement on June 17th, 2006.

Throughout the years, Chief Hayden has attended multiple speaking engagements and continues to do so across the country, sharing his experiences and offering his renowned expertise in the field of homeland security and preparedness.

Since his retirement, Chief Hayden continues to serve firefighters and all of our nation’s first responders through new and ongoing ventures. Chief Hayden currently serves as Vice-Chairman to First Responders Financial, a new company designated solely to meeting the financial and insurance needs of America’s first responders.

Chief Hayden has been married to his wife, Rita McCarthy for 32 years. They have five children, Rita, Katherine, Peter, Patrick and Mary. His two sons, Peter and Patrick, are both New York City firefighters; Peter working in Ladder Company 147 and Patrick in Ladder Company 105.