Ettore Berardinelli has been with the department since 1972
When Santa Monica’s fire chief retires in July, he’ll be stepping away from a 31-year love affair with fighting fires.
Chief Ettore Berardinelli, who has held every rank in the department since he started as a firefighter in 1972, will end his six-year term as chief July 24.
But Berardinelli, also known as “Gore,” says he won’t be bored in retirement.
That’s because he plays as hard as he works. And for decades Berardinelli has commuted an hour each way from his Newbury Park home to work 14-hour days.
“The mission that we provide is so important that sometimes your life becomes secondary to the mission,” said Berardinelli, whose dedication has earned him the respect of City Hall officials and local residents. “And I say that enthusiastically.”
A collage of fires
Berardinelli said if he could do it all over again, he would. He’d still become a paratrooper in the Army reserves. He’d still marry his wife Connie, who he’s been with for 23 years. And he’d still leave his job as a pattern-maker in a Los Angeles factory to join the Santa Monica Fire Department.
There’s just one thing Berardinelli said he wishes he’d done differently — kept a diary.
He would have written in it after the fire that gutted Cheerio Restaurant in the 1980s, the Carmel Hotel fire in 1972, the Stafford Street fire of 1976 or the more recent Sea Castle fire. He would have recorded his thoughts on New Year’s Day, 1979, after a fire ripped through Thrifty Drug store.
“It’s like combat,” said Berardinelli, adding that he sometimes misses the front lines since moving over to the administrative side in 1982. “Only you’re fighting a force of nature rather than a person.”
There were plenty of victories — no Santa Monica firefighter has died in the line of duty since 1946 — but there were also difficult times, especially during Berardinelli’s 10 years as a paramedic.
Some things stick out in his memory. Like the woman whose arms were ground off in a car accident but still she didn’t complain and showed nothing but bravery.
Or the baby that died in the middle of the night as Berardinelli struggled to bring it back to life. And the way the baby’s parents, after their baby had died, thanked him.
“It’s really like a collage,” Berardinelli said. “There are some things that stick in my mind that didn’t have happy endings.”
Born to lead
Colleagues describe Berardinelli as a born leader.
Berardinelli said he admires people “that stick to it and do the right thing.” His philosophy on leadership is as straightforward as his passion for the job.
“To be a leader you have to understand how to be a follower,” he said. “Never ask somebody to do something you wouldn’t do yourself.”
Berardinelli said he strives for open communication in his department of 90 firefighters, which responds to an average of 30 calls a day, and said he always tries to explain the reasons behind his orders.
Beyond that, a good fire chief must maintain his credibility and have strong management skills, he said.
But more important than anything else is a love for the service.
“This is a special job,” Berardinelli said. “You’ve got these big old trucks. You’ve got these people that love to meet us. It’s the greatest job in the world.
“It’s just incredible that you get to come to work every day and your sole mission is to help people in their most critical moments.”
No rest in sight
If some see retirement as an opportunity to rest and relax, Berardinelli sees it as a chance to catch up on a number of hobbies that have been pushed aside to fight fires.
Berardinelli, whose father was a local carpenter and who has built several homes himself, said he will start by spending some time in his woodshop at home.
He wants to fix up the 1956 Chevy he bought when he was 16 that he still owns. He wants to go on road trips. And he may start videotaping the football games at Newbury High School again, something he did for years so the players could have highlight reels when they graduated.
“There’s a value in working with your hands,” he said. “And seeing what you’ve done at the end of the day.”
And at just 55 this July 9, Berardinelli has seven grandchildren he’s itching to play with too.
The next chief
The city has just opened the recruiting period for a new fire chief, a job that pays between $113,000 and $140,000 a year.
Though no applications have yet come in, city officials said they expect candidates from all over the state to participate in the process, which typically includes a written problem, a presentation and an interview.
Two internal candidates have also voiced an interest in picking up in the department where Berardinelli will leave off.
One is Jim Hone, the assistant fire chief and fire marshal. During his 30-year career as a firefighter, Hone has developed an expertise in disaster response that has landed him in the aftermath of both the World Trade Center and the Oklahoma City bombings.
The other applicant currently working at the department under Berardinelli is William Kolberg, deputy chief for the last six years. Kolberg started with the department in 1975.
The city closes its application period on June 20. In the meantime, Berardinelli has offered to stay on longer if he’s needed.
“This is probably one of the best fire chief jobs in the country,” he said. “It’s kind of sad to be saying good-bye to it, but there’s so much more to life that’s got to be done.”
“This is probably one of the best fire chief jobs in the country. It’s kind of sad to be saying good-bye to it, but there’s so much more to life that’s got to be done.” — — ETTORE BERARDINELLI Santa Monica Fire Department Chief
- Ettore Berardinelli, Santa Monica Fire Department, chief
- Ettore Berardinelli, Santa Monica Fire Department, chief
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 17, 2003. Read the original PDF.