Assistant Fire Chief Gerry Maiatico Reflects on Warren County’s Fire Service Legacy at Warren Heritage Society

“If I don’t come in to work, nobody knows it,” County Administrator Ed Daley reflected prior to an event at the Warren Heritage Society. “If it snows and Public Works doesn’t come into work, they know it. If he doesn’t come into work,” gesturing to Assistant Fire Chief Gerry Maiatico, “they know it.”

Daley was among several public servants, including Town Manager Joseph Petty and Supervisor Cheryl Cullers, who attended Maiatico’s presentation honoring Warren County’s fire service legacy at the Warren Heritage Society on Thursday, August 21. His point was well taken. It is on the shoulders of these heroes, who often are not seen, that the heaviest burden rests.

(Above): Assistant Fire Chief Gerry Maiatico speaks about the history of the fire service in Warren County. (Below) An attentive audience listens to Maiatico at the Warren Heritage Society. Royal Examiner Photo Credits: Brenden McHugh.

In his presentation, Maiatico first reflected on his career and the milestones he has reached, beginning almost by accident as a fifteen-year-old playing pool at the fire hall where he happened to see the service in action and decided that he wanted to be on that kind of team. Later, he would meet his wife in a training-related scenario. To Maiatico, the fire service is a passion that he lives and breathes. His retention of historical details was evident as he began to engage the audience regarding not only the history of the service in Warren County but the national context as well.

When a fire happens, yes, it is a tragedy, but it is also a game-changer that gives the community an opportunity to evaluate what works and what does not. For every tragic occurrence, the service is making leaps and bounds in terms of knowing how to respond more effectively. Maiatico underlined this dynamic as he went forward with his presentation. Whether an occurrence local to Warren County, like the VFW fire, or an occurrence as nationally known as the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, these unfortunate accidents have a saving grace as fire response teams everywhere adjust their performance.

(Above) and (below): Maiatico’s presentation takes place in a room furnished with exhibits to Warren County’s fire service legacy.

He also underlined that the service has come a long way in its local and national evolution. There was a time when different teams within the same county were fiercely competitive. “This is my area,” Maiatico said, illustrating the prevailing attitude. “Stay out of it.” Now, there is a greater sense of camaraderie in the service as teams from different locations are mobilized to respond to the same incident. Stronger together is truly a great maxim to remind responders what the service is about: that they have been selected to solve a problem.

The service has also progressed by leaps and bounds, Maiatico explained, in its inclusion of women. There was a time as recent as the nineties when women were relegated to an auxiliary unit, making sandwiches for the men. Now, women in the line of duty represent a significant percentile of the force overall. But this is a battle that has not begun recently. Ever since the first half of the 1800’s, women have been breaking the glass ceiling in the fire service, working their way into key positions. Now, however, their presence has become more of a rule than an exception.

Full of fun facts like why the pole is no longer the preferred method of descending from the second floor to the first and the historical role of dalmatians in the service, Maiatico entertained his audience for well over an hour. History is hiding in drawers and attic boxes, he explained, and those discoveries of old newspaper clippings, for instance, are what piece together and give flesh to our understanding of the history of fire response in Warren County. Maiatico indicated that learning about history is a process in which we find ourselves, even as the teams mobilize in ever more effective ways.