JACKSON, Miss. Joseph Graham, who broke the color barrier at the Jackson Fire Department in the early 1970s and became the city's first black fire chief in 1996, has died.

Graham died Tuesday at Mississippi Baptist Medical Center. He was 68. Services are pending.

Graham died from a possible stroke or aneurysm shortly after he was in a minor traffic collision Sunday night, said his brother, Hinds County Supervisor Robert Graham.

Robert Graham said his brother was walking and talking to police when he suddenly collapsed. He was taken to Baptist Medical Center, where he suffered a seizure, Robert Graham said.

Joseph Graham was Jackson's first black firefighter. He was named fire chief in 1996.

Graham, then assistant chief, took the job after Chief Joe Donovan resigned on the heels of a shooting rampage. Then-firefighter Kenneth Tornes walked into Central Fire Station in April 1996 and fatally shot four top fire officials.

Joseph Graham found himself in a position to put the Fire Department back together and make it better and more unified, and that's what he did, said City Councilman Kenneth Stokes.

"Anyone but Chief Graham could have divided this city forever," Stokes said. "But he brought it together."

Graham retired in 1998 after 26 years with the Fire Department.

A list of survivors was not immediately available.