By Randi Rossman
The Press Democrat
SANTA ROSA, Calif. — After 41 years fighting thousands of Santa Rosa fires, decades teaching new generations and building up a local and statewide reputation as a master fire commander, Jack Piccinini worked his final shift for the city Monday.
Piccinini, 59, is retiring from the Santa Rosa Fire Department and later this week will start his new role as the interim fire chief for Central Fire Authority, overseeing the Rincon Valley and Windsor fire departments.
As Santa Rosa’s most senior veteran, Piccinini’s 32 years as a battalion chief give him more hands-on experience than most in Sonoma County and throughout the state in directing firefights.
His leadership abilities have sent him to many of the state’s largest wildland fires, where he’s directed crews on front lines and in the last several years has worked for Cal Fire, helping command suppression efforts.
Todd Derum, Cal Fire operations chief for Sonoma County, who supervises the state’s team of managers commanding large wildland firefights, said Piccinini’s “firefighter’s heart” and his “critical eye” for possible hazards facing people on the fire line are a significant addition to the state team’s efforts.
Piccinini’s efforts at mentoring many of Santa Rosa’s emerging firefighting leaders will keep the department strong for years, Fire Chief Tony Gossner said.
“Jack really is the one we all try to emulate,” Gossner said, calling him an “absolute master” at leading firefighting commands. “He’s calm, clear, direct. He sees many things at once and he’s always two to three steps ahead of us.”
There were no fires for Piccinini to fight on Monday. His last fire command came last week at a two-alarm commercial building blaze in northwest Santa Rosa.
Piccinini said he wanted to be a firefighter at age 8. He served under 12 Santa Rosa fire chiefs during his tenure and estimated he’s responded to 5,000 fire calls in the city.
“That’s enough,” Piccinini said.
His list of memorable fires is long. Close to the top is last September’s deadly Valley fire in Lake County.
During the initial firestorm, Piccinini and Monte Rio Fire Chief Steve Baxman worked together throughout the night, directing a group of Sonoma County firefighters as they tried to save Middletown neighborhoods.
It was a hectic, tension-filled night with both successes and failures.
“We dealt the hand we were dealt with,” Piccinini recalled. “That was a career fire. I’ve had a lot of career fires.”
Baxman, who worked in Roseland with Piccinini many years ago, called him “an icon” for Santa Rosa and a strong industry leader.
“He knows what’s going on in the fire business,” Baxman said. “He stayed progressive.”
Part of Piccinini’s Santa Rosa legacy began in the early 1980s, when the then-young battalion chief recognized the city’s firefighters needed a uniform gameplan to bring consistency to fighting fires.
Equating it to football players who come out of the huddle with everyone knowing what play will be called, Piccinini drew up a standardized fire command system and honed it over the years.
The idea caught on and for a few years he traveled throughout the West Coast teaching the concept to fire departments.
“I feel like that was a huge improvement to the organization” that increased safety and helped save lives and property, Piccinini said.
Gossner called him Santa Rosa’s “architect all along at how to run a fire.”
“As his teachings are still the core of the operation, Santa Rosa is recognized as the leading edge in the field of firefighting,” said retired Santa Rosa Battalion Chief Andy Pforsich.
Mark Basque is now the city’s most veteran battalion chief, with 22 years in the role, and is also a highly respected fire official.
He was one of several firefighters who credited Piccinini with mentoring them into department leaders.
“I’ve become the chief officer I am in the field, following his lead,” Basque said.
Piccinini’s decades as a rural agency volunteer have also added to his reputation, earning him respect among the volunteers that play a crucial role in Sonoma County’s firefighting efforts. He’ll continue as a volunteer fire captain for Sebastopol’s department.
On Monday, the battalion chief headed to the old Roseland fire station to say goodbye to the crew. It was also a return to where his professional career began after graduating from Analy High School.
He swapped stories with longtime fire Capt. Bob Stratton and reflected on years of fires and memories.
There were laughs. But Piccinini became emotional and had to pause when describing how he felt about those first moments when the fire bell alerts a crew to a call.
“Everyone getting into their gear, the doors rolling open …”
Piccinini couldn’t finish the thought, but somehow he’d said enough.
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