When The Smoke Clears

Vanessa DeVries first expressed interest in the fire department at four years old.  Yes, many kids go through their "I want to be a firefighter" phase, but Vanessa never grew out of hers.  She joined a volunteer fire department in Prince Georges County as a teenager, was later hired by the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service, and never looked back.

As a female in the fire service at a time when there were even fewer ...

Kevin DeVries is a second generation firefighter who was influenced early on by his father and uncle, who were both career firefighters for a time.  Kevin was another one who was hired during the corporation days and saw the department evolve into being run by the county.  Along the way, he worked in Bethesda, Takoma Park and Silver Spring, running "a couple fires along the way," as he put it.

Kevin never hesitated to tell...

Battalion Chief Mike Hamilton holds the record of having served the longest in the fire service out of all of the people we have interviewed so far...45 years!  During that time, Mike did A LOT.  From working at the 911 call center, being on the apparatus committee, working in code enforcement, and working in virtually every battalion in one position or another, Mike Hamilton had a very full career.  He was on the scene of several ...

Derrick Anthony joins us to discuss his 30+ year fire service career.  Throughout his time in MCFRS, Derrick was involved in many things, including teaching at the training academy, helping with the Critical Incident Stress Management Team, being the In-Service Training Coordinator at the training academy, helping the department acquire accreditation, and more.

Once he retired, he continued working in a variety of jobs, being very t...

Rico Shepherd never grew up with any aspirations to join the fire department.  However, when he saw an advertisement in the newspaper about MCFRS hiring, he applied, got hired, and the rest was history.

Rico spent a good part of his career in Cabin John on the swift water rescue team, and another large chunk of it in the fire code enforcement section where he eventually retired as a Master Firefighter.  After retirement, his entrepr...

When Walter Balma had his first encounter with the fire department, he knew immediately that he wanted to be a firefighter.  Growing up in Prince George's County, MD, he wanted to be a PG firefighter, so he became a PG volunteer.  However, when applying for full-time fire department jobs, Montgomery County Fire and Rescue hired him first.  Walter enjoyed a 20+ year career in Montgomery County before eventually retiring and joi...

Stacey Jones never had any ambition to join the fire service when he was young, but through various twists and turns of life, he found himself joining  the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service as a member of Recruit Class 6.  Along the way, Stacey never had any formal mentors to teach him about the fire service, and at times he struggled.  But he ultimately forged his own path and ended up retiring as a Captain and as an EMS d...

"Retired" Fire Chief Scott Goldstein joins us on the show to recount his 30+ years in the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service, including eight years as its Fire Chief.  We say "retired" because Chief Goldstein is actually still on the job!  He currently serves as Fire Chief of Cowlitz 2 Fire and Rescue in Kelso, Washington.

Chief Goldstein has lots of great insights to share about his time in Montgomery Cou...

Division Chief Mike Love returns to share with us the rest of his story.  If you haven't listened to part one, please do yourself a favor and do that...otherwise you'll miss out on a lot!

Chief Love picks up from where he left off...getting promoted to Sergeant in the Silver Spring Fire Department.  His career then took him through the ranks all the way up to Division Chief.  Along the way, he saw the department change and...

Captain Clifford "Cliff" Billingslea joins us to talk about his career.  Growing up, Cliff met several people in high school who would eventually become his fire department colleagues in the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service.  Once he got into the department, he spent his initial few years in the more rural areas of the county before transferring to Takoma Park.  From there, he spent the rest of his career working...

Captain Pete Corte is another individual who wanted to be a firefighter from the very beginning.  He achieved his goal by becoming a volunteer firefighter at first, then getting hired by Montgomery County Fire and Rescue.  Pete worked in Takoma Park, Bethesda, Glen Echo, Glenmont, and Chevy Chase, rising through the ranks.  He also spent some time as a safety officer.

After some injuries caught up with him, he knew it was ...

From the time he was first introduced to the fire service in high school, Marshall Moneymaker knew this was what he wanted to do with his life.  However, the road to get there definitely was not easy.

Eventually he did manage to get hired by the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service, and made his way to station six in Bethesda...working in the high rise district of southern Montgomery County.  It was there he got to dr...

Alex Aquino has always had a heart yearning for adventure, and all of his immediate family members were the same.  So it was no surprise (kind of) that he ended up in the fire department.

After an almost 30-year career, all of his adventures, both on the job and off, caught up to him physically.  It was his desire to continue having adventures with his family that led him to hang up his turn out gear.

Alex can be ...

Retired Division Chief Mike Love sits down with us for part 1 of a two-part interview.  Chief Love is a treasure trove of valuable historic information on the early days of the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service.  He talks about his upbringing in the 50s and 60s...how he first got involved with the Kensington Volunteer Fire Department as a young kid, spending lots of time at station 18, and how that led him to become a volun...

Retired Captain Marc Worton was destined to be in the fire service.  Having two parents deeply involved in volunteer fire departments, he was practically born into it.  Marc shares his story of becoming a volunteer firefighter as a teenager, eventually getting hired as a full-time career firefighter in Montgomery County, and having a robust career that took him from the fields of Sandy Spring to the high-rises of Bethesda.  He answ...

From the time he was a six-year-old boy hearing the fire house sirens sound near his home in Montgomery Village, MD, David Steckel knew he wanted to be a firefighter.  When he was finally old enough to join the fire cadet program in high school, his love for the fire service was confirmed and there was no looking back.

After he was hired as a career firefighter in Montgomery County, Maryland, Dave quickly rose through the ...

For our first female guest on the podcast, we have none other than retired Division Chief Diane Zuspan.

Chief Zuspan originally had no desire to join the fire department.  However, she entered the EMS world as a young adult and fell in love with it.  Her journey as a paramedic took her from the west coast, to the middle of the country, and finally to the east coast, where she became a full time career firefighter and never...

Captain Tony Rankin is another firefighter that both Russ and Tony have personal experience working with.  When Tony Rankin was a captain in Hillandale, Tony Bencosme was his lieutenant and Russ was one of his firefighters.

Tony shares with us about his upbringing growing up in Montgomery County, how a chance encounter with a former schoolmate-turned firefighter led him to become a volunteer firefighter and eventually a ca...

Adrian Lacey joins us to discuss his career with the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service.  Adrian was a collegiate soccer player before discovering the fire service.  The majority of his 20+ year career was spent primarily at a single firehouse...Hillandale Station 12, and primarily on a single shift...A shift.

Adrian shares about his passion for soccer, how he spent many years as the primary tiller man on Truck 12, ...