Firefighter Family Ends Half-Century Run with NY Department

When the roster of Niagara Falls firefighters is posted later Thursday, for the first time in 50 years there won’t be a Fontanella on the list.

The half century run of the Fontanella family as Cataract City blazebusters came to an end on Wednesday with the retirement of Battalion Chief Mark Fontanella. The 32-year veteran was given a final salute by a phalanx of firefighters at the Royal Avenue Fire Station.

“We shared about 12 years together,” Fontanella said of his firefighting career with his father, Thomas. “We worked opposite shifts, but one time they overlapped, and we went on one call together.”

It was his dad who encouraged Fontanella to take the firefighter civil service test. He called it, “The best thing that ever happened to me.”

Fontanella’s first day on the job was Feb.1, 1988. He worked his way up the ranks from firefighter to fire captain, to training chief and finally battalion chief for platoon 2.

“Thirty-two years, you know, that’s a pretty full career,” Fontanella said.

Falls Fire Chief Joe Pedulla agreed.

“When you lose someone with that amount of institutional knowledge and training, it’s going to be felt,” Pedulla said.

And Pedulla said Fontanella’s long tenure as the department’s training chief paid handsome dividends to firefighters, not only on his platoon but across the department.

“All the training he’s done over the years, he emphasized training with his crews and it showed,” Pedulla said “And then we would come in on his own time to train (other crews). He genuinely cared about the guys.”

Fontanella said, as he ended his career, that the caring for his platoon could sometimes weigh on him.

“It’s easier to go into a burning building than sending other people into one,” the battalion chief said thoughtfully. “I wanted to leave before someone got hurt on my watch.”

He’ll be able to spend more time at home now, with his wife, Becky, and his children, Brodie and Cole. But he’ll miss the camaraderie in the fire hall.

In three decades, Fontanella said fire houses have changed.

“We used to have one TV and one wall phone and you scheduled your calls,” he said, laughing. “There weren’t cell phones, so we all talked with each other a lot more.”

The gear of firefighting has changed dramatically. Long rubber coats have been replaced by more protective turnout clothing and no one rides on the back of a fire engine any more.

Training has changed too. There’s a lot more use of video and firefighters are asked to deal with increasing diverse hazards and threats. It’s the new reality for firefighters.

“In order to get your guys home safe, you gotta keep training,” Fontanella said.

Asked if he can recall a specific fire or rescue over his career, Fontanella hesitated.

“There’s a lot of memories. Some good, some bad,” he said, recalling that in his first 18 months on the job he went to multiple fatal fires where the victims were children. “The bad ones stay in your head more. I see them sometimes.”

Pedulla said the departure of a second battalion chief in just over six months will create new opportunities in the department.

“We’ll be promoting a captain now and that will create an opportunity to promote a firefighter and then we’ll need a new firefighter,” the chief said. “We need young firefighters. This is a young person’s job.”

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