Hairston was appointed head of the fire department by Mayor Ed Rendell and served until retirement in 2004.
In his next life, Hairston worked for the CBS network Eyewitness News team as an expert on public safety and the Philadelphia Fire Department.
[5] After contentious consent decrees were mandated on the PFD to correct previous discriminatory promotion practices,[6] it was held in the black Philadelphia community that the position of Fire Commissioner would go to an African-American.
However, in 2016, newly elected Mayor Kenney replaced the Acting Fire Commissioner and native Philadelphian Derrick Sawyer with his own choice, breaking a 24-year tradition of native black Philadelphians being appointed to the position of fire chief of the 2,500 strong department.
[7] Hairston served on various boards such as the American Red Cross of Southeastern Pennsylvania, the Delaware Valley Burn Foundation, the Police Athletic League, the Variety Club of the Delaware Valley and the Dad Vail Regatta, but the interest that continued long after his retirement was Fireman's Hall Museum, which has a tribute organized in his memory.