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GREENBURGH, N.Y. – Shortly after the retirement of Deputy Fire Chief Eugene Malone, Greenburgh's Fairview Fire Department promoted two long-time firefighters.
As of mid-July, 23-year fire veteran Christopher Ryan was promoted to deputy fire chief, while Ted DiGilio, who has been in the department since 1999, was promoted to fire captain.
"It's very exciting," DiGilio said. "We do a job that many people want to do. This is our career. It's exciting times. Everything has been great so far. It's the next step in our careers. At this point, I'm making a big step, and we both have huge responsibilities now. We're both going to move forward with steppingstones in our careers."
DiGilio's promotion from firefighter to fire captain meant taking on quite a bit more responsibility, as he is now responsible for of a group, instead of solely himself.
"Each promotion has a little more responsibility," Ryan said. "It's exciting (to see) how you're going to handle that."
Ryan admitted that he had a smoother transition becoming deputy chief, as he already had supervisory duties as captain. Now, however, he is in charge of the whole department and its day-to-day operations.
"As you get promoted, you start to realize why the guy before you did the things he did, because you see the responsibilities you have," said Fairview Fire Chief Anthony LoGuidice. "When you are a firefighter, you don't see any of those responsibilities. As you progress, you see what you are responsible for."
Looking back on their careers, Ryan said that one of his most memorable moments came from teaching fire prevention to young schoolchildren. His brother, who is also a Fairview firefighter, recently ran into someone who remembered him from a fire class in 1991.
DiGilio noted that the Fairview Fire Department does everything from extinguishing fires and assisting the police Emergency Response Team to performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation and helping deliver babies.
"Anytime we can help anybody in the community, it's a great feeling," he said.
While Ryan took over Malone's old position, the 40-year veteran will not soon be forgotten. LoGuidice said the department will miss Malone's presence. Ryan and DiGilio shared the sentiment.
"For most people working here now, he has always been here, and he was the guy to get advice or information from," Ryan said.
"Deputy Chief Malone was a great leader who had a lot of life experiences that you can't replace," DiGilio said. "We want to gain those experiences now. He's going to be missed."
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