By Bob Ross
Times-Picayune (New Orleans)
Copyright 2006 The Times-Picayune Publishing Company
There are some people who seem almost destined to end up in a particular profession. Mike Zito is one of those folks.
Zito, 48, retired last week as chief of the Kenner Fire Department, after spending 31 years in firefighting — first as a volunteer, then as a paid firefighter and finally as chief.
Zito, who grew up in a third-generation Kenner family just a block from the old Worth Street fire station in south Kenner, said he always wanted to be a firefighter as a kid. He hung around the fire station, getting to know the firefighters, and was influenced by two of his cousins, who were volunteer firefighters.
“To me back then, it was the excitement I felt about the job,” he said.
When he turned 18, Zito joined up as a Kenner volunteer and was hired as a paid firefighter four years later. At the same time he trained to become a paramedic, skills he thought would enhance his firefighting career.
He moved up the ladder in the Fire Department, and in the early 1980s wrote a letter to then-chief D.J. Mumphrey saying he was willing to talk to schools and nursing homes and businesses about fire safety and to be available to the media as well.
Zito put his heart and soul into the extra duties — never turning down a request from the media or a civic or business group or school in the city. Even if it was 2 a.m., he would find the assistant chief on duty, get the information and call the media outlet with the news. If they wanted him in his uniform at the scene for an interview, a groggy Zito would get dressed and head out.
Some in the department were jealous and knocked Zito for seeking the spotlight. But Zito said that was never his motivation.
“I just thought it gave me the chance to give the public safety advice and the Fire Department the chance to show (we) were active and cared, and you can’t pay for that kind of advertisement.”
Soon, Zito became the go-to guy for fire safety information and a favorite of radio, television and newspaper reporters around the area. Spokespeople from other departments didn’t always return calls quickly. Zito always did.
Teasing from friends and co-workers, who noticed how often Zito’s name was mentioned in newspaper stories or in TV news reports, began to snowball. A girlfriend even bought a license plate with the phrase, “Zito Said.”
The nickname stuck.
“I would walk into the station and guys would say ‘Zito said’ or they would just say ‘Here comes Said,’ ” he remembered, smiling. “But the chief told me privately he thought it was good we were keeping the department in a positive light.”
Keeping the department in a positive light is something he has continued to do since being named chief in 1993 by former Mayor Aaron Broussard.
Councilwoman Michele Branigan, who has been in office since 1996, said Zito is part of the reason the department has grown over the years, with new fire stations and an improved fire rating.
“If he came to the council and told us he needed something, there was just no question,” she said. “That’s what we did.”
Iggy Rosales, now in charge of medical operations for the department, followed in Zito’s shoes as public information officer, holding that job for 13 years.
For a time, Zito was his captain at the station; then the two headed to their after-hours jobs as paramedics and also studied fire science alongside one another at Delgado College.
He said Zito brought an enthusiasm and love for the job that was infectious.
“Mike always talks about being lucky to be a firefighter, but in reality, the ones who were lucky were the people under his care,” said Rosales. “My grandfather always told me if you love your job, it’s not work. So I don’t think Mike worked one day in his life.”