►
From YouTube: Oral History | Arlington County Fire Chiefs
Description
Fire Chief Bonzano sits down with his predecessors to talk about lessons learned, progress, and thoughts for the future.
A
B
Actually
I
was
a
forward.
County,
employee
and
I
was
working
at
the
water
department
for
a
couple
years
and
got
drafted,
went
to
Vietnam,
came
back
and
went
back
into
the
water
department
and
then
started
to
look
for
different
careers.
You
know,
of
course
you
always
wanted
to
try
to
improve
yourself,
get
better
make
a
little
bit
more
money.
So
at
that
time
the
fire
department
was
hiring
I
had
no
experience
in
the
fire
department,
but
I
did
a
lateral
transfer
from
the
water
department
to
the
fire
department.
That's
how
I
started
my
career
now.
B
C
C
My
my
dad,
as
you
know,
was
a
volunteer
at
wholesale
fire
station
of
Rainey
and
being
a
kid
I
knew
that,
but
I
never
really
knew
exactly
what
that
meant
right.
So,
by
virtue
of
him
being
a
volunteer,
you
know
that
all
the
guys
there,
you
know,
take
the
kids
under
their
wing.
So
when
I,
when
I
was
graduating
from
high
school
bill,
Warrington
write
asked
me
how
Billy
just
happened
it
ready
to
him.
You
go.
What
are
you
doing
you
doing,
and
so
I
was
in
route
to
college
and
Bill
room.
A
Right
go
weren't
done
as
a
great
man
right
there
lovely
absolutely
so.
I'll
start
with
you
know,
and
just
some
of
the
great
conversations
we've
had
through
the
years
and
I'm
going
to
ask
you
guys
to
share
some
of
those.
So
I'll
start
by
saying
yeah.
Well,
we'll
keep
it
up,
he
g-rated.
So
what
are
your
favorite
memories?
And
what
do
you
miss
most
about
the
job?
Well,.
B
I've
got
a
lot
of
favorite
memories
and
we
don't
Yap,
you
just
go
for
it.
It
was
just
a
great
job
and
I
mean
you
know
what
you
miss
I
think
are
the
people,
the
camaraderie,
that
you
have
the
the
job
that
you
do
really
I
mean.
You
know
it's.
You
know
you're
out
there
trying
to
help
the
public
all
the
time
and
it's
always
something
new
and
different.
We're
challenging.
B
Sometimes
you
know
dangerous,
but
it
is
for
me
anyway
and
has
been
the
greatest
job
that
that
there
is
I,
have
three
sons
and
all
three
sons
are
going
to
do.
The
best
I
can
to
try
and
follow
and
get
careers
in
the
fire
service.
So
memories
I
mean
it's
just
one
after
another.
You
know
they
go
from
practical
jokes,
you
know
serious
times,
but
all
in
all
it
was
a
great
career.
Angry.
A
C
It
is
I,
was
gonna
listening
to
you
and
how
I
sons
are
following
enough,
which
stepson
was
it?
Was
it
if
it
wasn't
easily
a
very
good
job?
It's
a
it's
a
it's
a
very
different
job
from
a
regular
nine-to-five.
Folks,
oh
and
it's
hard.
Sometimes
it's
hard
to
explain
to
people
how
it
differs.
You
know
you
know
you
just
don't
you're,
basically
living
with
people,
okay
and
for
certain
amount
of
days
of
a
month,
and
it
brings
about
a
deeper
connection
than
just
a
nine-to-five
and
it
brings
back
some
headaches.
C
We've
had
a
lot
of
a
lot
of
our
chiefing
times,
because
people
didn't
know
how
to
get
along,
but
you
actually
learn
how
they
get
along,
which
it
which
makes
it
a
great
aspect
of
the
job
I
like
Bobby.
There
were
so
many
so
many
funny
things
that
happened,
and
so
many
serious
things
you
know
when
I
just
saw
a
picture
of
us
yeah
you
and
I.
A
A
We
have
our
difficult
times
we
get
through
them,
but
what
I've
always
loved
the
most
about
I
think
that's
what
distinguishes
us
is,
because
you
have
the
opportunity
to
break
bread
with
somebody,
and
you
leave
a
silly
call
to
a
very
serious
column
without
that
family.
Without
that
levity,
you
know
you,
you
know
it
could
be
difficult,
so
so
I'll
move
on
and
and
I
asked
you
a
little
in
the
interest
of
being
serious
for
a
moment.
A
What
do
you
know
now
that
you
wish
you
knew
when
you
came
on
the
job,
and
then
it
not
only
passed
it
on
to
our
officers
also
to
our
young.
You
know,
folks
that
are
come
on
the
department
today.
What
would
you
pass
on
to
them
about
what
lessons
learned
about
being?
Not
only
an
entry-level
firefighter,
but
also
about
as
you
grow
and
become
an
officer
in
the
institution,
they
all
start
with.
You.
C
That's
different
difficult
to
put
it
down
in
just
one
little
caption,
one
of
the
biggest
things,
and
we
do
a
lot
of
training.
I
mean
we
train
all
the
time.
That's
what
we
do.
That's
what
makes
us
good
people
training
howto,
especially
the
younger
folks,
I
call
how
to
interact
how
to
get
along.
How
to
you
know
how
to
play
in
the
sandbox
I
think,
that's
a
big
aspect
of
it
and
living
in
in
in
a
scenario.
Situation
like
we
do
in
the
fire
station
you're
not
going
to
have
it
all
your
way.
C
The
other
person
can't
have
it
all
their
way.
So
it's
it's
a
meeting
of
the
minds
in
the
middle
ground
right
and
just
just
enjoy
yourself
and
one
of
the
things.
As
far
as
for
officers,
looking
back
I
didn't
break
my
career
up
in
stages.
Okay,
it
just
you
know,
I,
never
see
how
to
put
this.
We
kind
of
just
react
somewhat.
You
know
you
get
promoted,
you
take
this
class,
you
did
so
on,
but
I
never
looked
at
it
as
a
as
a
total
destination
of
wherever
would
like
to
have
been
and
I
wish.
B
Know
adding
on
to
what
they
all
said.
The
technical
aspect
of
the
job
is
is
very,
very
important.
Also
like
you,
it's
a
job
that
it's
hard
to
learn
how
to
do
something
from
a
book.
It's
more
hands-on
that
that
learning,
where
you
see
something
that
happens,
and
you
need
to
file
that
because
it'll
come
back.
B
You
know
at
two
o'clock
in
the
morning,
if
you're
out
there
as
the
officer
in
charge
and
you're
responsible,
for
you
know
four
people
and-
and
you
know
being
safe
with
them
and
getting
the
job
done
it's
hard
to
grasp
that
from
a
book.
So
you
know
my
advice
is
that
you
need
to
start
to
learn
and
observe
and
take
in
every
bit
of
information
you
can
from
the
day
that
you
start
we
used
to
addresses
as
an
example
trying
to
figure
out
how
to
go
somewhere
and
get
there
the
quickest
way.
B
We
used
to
call
it
Pete
and
repeat,
because
you
run
a
lot
of
calls
to
the
same
building
or
the
same
structure.
So
once
you
get
that
path
that
travel
route
down,
then
it's
there
forever.
But
you
know
it:
when
I
came
on,
I
tried
to
do
that,
took
the
job
very
seriously.
It's
something
you
know.
I
was
promoted
to
a
roving
lieutenant
with
five
years
of
experience
and
the
roving
unattended.
At
that
time
you
generally
change
shifts.
B
So
you
really
didn't
know
a
lot
of
people
or
a
lot
of
capabilities
once
you
move
to
another
shift
and
you
took
the
place
of
an
officer
that
was
all
for
bleep
or
something
like
that.
So
you
really,
you
know,
had
to
learn
the
people
and
be
able
to
make
those
decisions,
so
I
think
for
new
people,
especially
take
it
seriously
learned
everything
you
can
about
the
technical
aspects
of
the
job.
B
You
know
things
have
changed
when
we
first
came
on,
you
took
written
test
for
promotion,
and
then
it
was
up
to
a
group
of
people
to
decide
whether
you
had
the
experience
and
stuff
to
get
promoted
now.
They've
gone
into
assessment
centers
and
you
know
it's
a
different
deal
because
you
have
to
learn
how
to
deal
with
people
as
well
as
the
technical
aspect
of
it,
but
to
actually
get
out
there
and
do
it
yourself.
B
A
Me
examples
of
how
you
guys
built
your
teams
and
Bobby
you
talked
about
when
you
were
roaming
and
how
that
was
difficult
because
it
was
a
new
team.
All
the
time
and
I'd
like
to
know
your
experiences,
both
your
experiences.
What
was
maybe
one
of
the
tools
you
used
to
help
develop
your
team
and
I'll
start
with
you
Bobby
well,.
B
I
think
you
know
it
it's
just
like
anything
else.
You
you
know
can
learn
people's
capabilities,
I
mean
for
a
rover.
It's
really
difficult
in
a
lot
of
instances,
because
you've
got
ten
stations.
If
you
have
a
single
shift,
then
you
can
learn
strengths
and
weaknesses
of
the
folks
that
work
with
you
and
improve
upon
those,
but
I
know
as
a
rover.
I
used
to
go
in
and
look
for
my
assignment
and
the
officer
that
was
there.
B
If
it
was,
a
combination
house
would
have
changed
the
people
to
whom
it
had
taken
hold
unquote
what
he
thought
he
thought
her
people
would
kind
of
leave.
You
was
somebody
that
were
struggling,
you
know,
so
it
really
made
it
overly
difficult,
but
I
think
that
you
know
it's
just
it's
all
it's
something
that
you
have
to
work
at
and
and
stay
with.
Rowan
she's.
C
To
answer
that
Jimmy
to
apply
ups
I
was
thinking
because
thinking
back
from
Bobby
are
you
making
me
roll
broke
my
rolodex
in
there
we
all
played
sports
right
and
being
on
teams
we
at
plates.
What's
all
my
entire
life
so
producing
a
team
working
within
a
team
was
pretty
easy.
One
of
the
things
that
I
never
considered
is
that
everybody
didn't
play
sports.
Everybody
didn't
do
that,
so
that
was
one
of
the
difficult
pieces
you
you're
thinking
from
one
paradigm
and
some
others
may
not
have
that
paradigm.
C
Persecute
when
they
don't
know
anything
in
the
teaching
format,
you're
mostly
gonna,
do
pretty
well,
would
you
you
got
to
be
fair
and
you've
got
to
miss
Bobbye
see
he
was
working
with
someone
who
would
had
some
shortcomings?
Well,
everybody
has
shortcomings,
so
you
know
you're
working
as
a
team.
You
pick
up
my
shortcomings.
I
pick
up
yours
and
we
make
for
stronger
team
I.
A
C
Some
would
we've
already
touched
on
and
I
think
actually
the
department,
okay
and
maybe
the
fire
service,
but
I
was
speaking
for
just
Arlington
specific.
We
need
to
do
a
better
job
on
developing
our
officers,
not
just
to
make
them
officers,
because
we
do
it
I
think
a
great
job
on
their
technical
piece.
C
I
really
do
I
think
we're
as
you
think,
about
what,
if
we
just
train
all
the
time
technically
and
the
issue
with
that-
is
that
the
people
who
are
doing
the
technical
thing
or
people,
so
we
need
some
people
more
people
training
to
apply
to
people
training,
along
with
the
technical
training,
to
become
a
really
good
officer,
more
formal
training.
Don't
you
I
I,
think
that's
a
big
piece,
but
not
just
you
know
a
lot
of
times.
We
focus
on
one
piece
as
technical
training,
a
formal
training
age,
but
we
need
to
it's
a
combination.
B
There
are
a
lot
of
different
factors
involved.
If,
if
you
take
crying
officers,
that's
an
example,
first
and
foremost
I
would
say
they
have
to
realize
that
everybody
has
a
boss,
okay
and
that
you
know
they're
going
to
hear
things
and
have
things
brought
down
their
way
that
they
may
not
totally
agree
with.
But
you
have
to
work
through
that
process.
You
have
to
be
a
contributor
to
the
process
instead
of
one
that
might
want
to
go
against
it.
B
I
also
think,
as
a
as
an
officer,
you
need
to
really
earn
the
respect
of
the
people
that
work
with
you
just
like
Dale
said
you
know,
treat
people
fairly
honestly,
a
lot
of
different
traits
that
you
can
have
and
develop
that
make
you
a
lot
better
officer
and
make
you
accepted
by
the
folks
that
work
with
you,
which
always
makes
it
easier
to
manage
that
group.
You
know
if
they
have
faith
in
you.
B
You
have
to
learn
how
to
deal
with
people,
how
to
manage
people,
how
to
manage
a
technical
aspect
of
it
and
that's
on
a
day
to
day
thing
I
mean
you
have
to
do
it
constantly.
It's
it's
a
job
where
you
need
to
be
focused
and
develop
all
the
time,
because
there's
so
much
involved.
Now
too,
especially,
you
know,
just
like
somebody
said
you
know
you
used
to
have
to
worry
about
when
you
ran
into
a
building
about
a
fire
or
situation.
Now,
when
you
run
into
a
building,
can
be
a
whole
lot
more.
B
A
C
Just
just
sitting
here
with
my
ex-partner
here,
I
I
missed
him
yeah.
You
know,
I
missed
the
the
knowledge
that
I
got
from
folks,
like
you
he's
a
little
bit
older,
okay
and
he's
and
we're
different,
and
you
know
actually
I
said
we're
a
perfect
example.
We
were
very
different,
we're
very
similar.
We
have
very
similar
backgrounds,
I
didn't
I,
didn't
know
if
you
grew
up
in
Arlington
I
like
I
did
so
we're
very
similar,
but
very
different
and
I.
Look
at
him.
You
know
how
you
hit
big
brother,
give
you
advice.
C
Okay,
we
don't
didn't
agree
with
it
all!
Okay,
because
we're
different
people
but
I
appreciate
it
right
and
so
the
aspect
that
I
would
I
miss
is
I
miss
our
laughter
right,
I,
miss
because
even
though
it's
fun
times
we're
still
learning
right,
okay
and
we're,
and
if
you
have
the
fun
times
it
makes
the
difficult
times
usually
I.
B
Days,
I
probably
have
a
hard
time
passing
a
physical
but
yeah.
You
know,
I,
just
I
miss
missed
that
interaction.
Yes,
the
teamwork.
Let's
say
we
were.
He
was
on
the
north
side
and
I
was
on
the
south
side.
We
had
you
know
911
together,
yeah
I
mean
when
you
go
through
some
of
those
things
like
that.
It
bonds
you
forever
but
like.
C
B
C
Know
one
of
the
things
why's
that
because
we
were
talking
before
we
show
you
this
about
traveling
and
is
this
uncanny
I've
been
in
many
states
many
places
I
can
always
pick
out
a
firefighter
and
a
police
officer.
I
can't
I
mean
it's
just
I,
be
with
my
friends.
I
go.
Oh
yeah.
Thank
guys
firefighter.
It's
we
just
have
a
different
conversation.
We
have
a
different
walk.
We
have
a
different
talk
and
it's
very
interesting.
So
I.
A
Want
to
say
to
you
guys
personally,
both
thank
you.
You
know
you
guys
are
both
very
close,
personal
friends
of
mine
and
I.
Thank
you
for
what
you've
given
to
me
personally
I.
Thank
you
for
you.
What
you've
given
to
this
county
in
this
profession
personally
and
may
God
bless
you
both
and
with
that
I'm
gonna
conclude.
B
I'd
like
to
thank
you
for
what
you've
done
for
this
county.
Okay,
I
see
what
your,
what
your
thought
process
is.
What
you're
trying
to
just
like
this,
you
know
create
something
that'll
be
there
for
people
to
learn
from,
and
you
know
you
don't
have
to
do
that,
but
you
take
it
upon
yourself
to
do
something
like
this
and
I.
Thank
everybody
within
arlington
county
should
be
appreciative
of
that
for
citizens,
as
well
as
the
folks
in
the
fire
department
stuff
like
that
to
me.
So
I
think
you
should
I.
A
Thank
you.
Thank
you
very
much.
It
takes
a
team,
as
you
all
know.
Thank
you,
sir
Thank
You
Dale.
Thank
you.