Fire Pre­ven­tion Chief Bran­don Eck­stein is retir­ing after 20 years of ser­vice with the Mar­i­on Fire Department. 

The Mar­i­on native called home to many places includ­ing over­seas while his father served in the mil­i­tary, then set­tled in Ten­nessee for a few years before return­ing to Grant Coun­ty, IN. Eck­stein grad­u­at­ed from Mis­sissinewa High School in 2003, then joined the Mar­i­on Fire Depart­ment in 2006. 

For most of his career with MFD, Eck­stein has been a Fire Inves­ti­ga­tor and a K9 Han­dler for the depart­ment. He served many years as a cer­ti­fied Fire Instruc­tor, and also served on the Haz­mat Team, Water Res­cue Team and Hon­or Guard. Eck­stein rou­tine­ly inspect­ed build­ings for fire code compliance.

Since the begin­ning of May­or Ronald Morrell’s admin­is­tra­tion and the appoint­ment of Fire Chief Cur­tis Garr in 2024, Eck­stein has been the Fire Pre­ven­tion Chief for MFD.

Chief Garr said Eck­stein exceled in his role with MFD. ​“Although he fought fire and treat­ed med­ical calls well, inves­ti­ga­tions are where he shined. He and his K‑9 Jer­sey (R.I.P.), inves­ti­gat­ed and solved many cas­es togeth­er through­out the city, coun­ty and state. As Fire Pre­ven­tion Chief, he spear­head­ed order and cohe­sive­ness with­in the Inves­ti­ga­tion Divi­sion. Eckstein’s ded­i­ca­tion to the Mar­i­on Fire Depart­ment and the cit­i­zens of Mar­i­on is great­ly appreciated.”

Eck­stein said he’s gained strong friend­ships over the years. ​“You spend a lot of time togeth­er in this job and grow tight bonds such as watch­ing each other’s kids grow up, and even begin their own families.”

He reflect­ed, ​“I loved see­ing the kids get excit­ed about fire trucks. You can make their day just by tak­ing a cou­ple min­utes to show them a truck and let them try on your gear.”

Eck­stein offered some wis­dom to new/​aspiring fire­fight­ers. ​“Take the time to real­ly learn the job and con­tin­ue your edu­ca­tion in fire ser­vice. Things are chang­ing every day in the way of res­i­den­tial and com­mer­cial build­ings and fire safe­ty. He con­clud­ed, ​“Also, if you see a child out in pub­lic and they seem excit­ed to see the truck, take a few min­utes out of your day and show them the truck. Those cou­ple of min­utes could be the high­light of a child’s entire week.”