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…

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…

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-turne…

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 f…

From volunteering at the Sandy Spring Volunteer Fire Department to getting hired by Montgomery County Fire and Rescue, working his way up to be the primary driver of Truck 25, retiring because of various injuries, and having to deal with some mental health struggles, retired Master Firefighter Eric Fessenden's story is incredibly powerful. He holds…

Assistant Chief Michael Clemens dedicated more than 40 years of service to the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service. Starting out as a teenage volunteer with the Silver Spring Volunteer Fire Department, and eventually getting hired by that corporation, Mike served the majority of his career in the Silver Spring area, before promoting to chief …

Assistant Chief Michael Prete joins us on the podcast today. Listen in as he talks about: - The very unusual way he got into the fire department - What it was like as a volunteer/casual labor employee before the county took over the fire department - How he influenced the department bring in the 24/48 work schedule - What he believes was his most i…

Retired Battalion Chief Bill Kang joins us on the pod today. He shares about his life growing up in a traditional Asian family, and his parent's reaction to him joining the fire service. Chief Kang's career took him all over Montgomery County...from the urban streets of Silver Spring to the rural landscapes of Damascus and (at the time) Germantown.…

MFF Darren Carter sits down with us to talk about his career. He walks us through his early volunteer days at the Burntonsville Volunteer Fire Department, getting hired by the county, working at stations all over Montgomery County, and his final assignment as the C shift scheduler. Darren then breaks down his life after he stepped away, his perspec…

We speak with retired Battalion Chief Tony Coleman about his career with MCFRS. Tony shares with us about his upbringing as a native Montgomery County kid, what drew him into the fire service, his career spanning several decades leading to his final rank of battalion chief, and how he approaches life on the retired side of the fire service. Tony sh…

Retired Chief John Tippett joins us to talk about his career...how he started out as a volunteer firefighter and the became a career firefighter not too long after. Chief Tippett worked many years for the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service, ultimately retiring as a battalion chief. However, his career did not stop there. After retiring from …

In this episode we speak with retired Captain Pedro Meneses Jr.. From coming to the United States from his home country of Nicaragua, to his eventually joining the fire department, Pedro shares about all of the twists and turns his life took to eventually lead him to the career that he fell in love with. Pedro also shares about his leaving the fire…

For our very first interview, we speak with retired Battalion Chief Kelvin Thomas. Kelvin walks us through his upbringing, what led him to pursue a career in the fire service, the assignments that made the most impact on his career, and how transitioning to the retired life has had an impact on him. Chief Thomas can be reached at Kelvin702@me.com…

Welcome to When The Smoke Clears! In this introductory episode, Tony and Russ introduce themselves and explain what this podcast is all about.By Whenthesmokeclears