“We come into these families’ lives at the most critical moments and we have to deliver. It’s very special.”

Captain Chris Gonzales

Why did you become a firefighter?

To help people.

Captain Chris Gonzales loves the fire service because everything he does revolves around helping others. He is passionate about community outreach and he enjoys the mental challenge of being a firefighter. His dedication to the community he serves is evident with the amount of time he puts into helping those around him.

Captain Gonzales served four years in the US Marine Corps before joining the fire service. He loved the adrenaline and camaraderie that he found in the Marines and knew that he couldn’t just go to a 9-5 job after he concluded his military service.

“Military veterans are exposed to a deep level of human connection while they’re serving,” Captain Gonzales noted. “After their service, they feel a need to have that addictive camaraderie but it is hard to find.” For Chris, firefighting fills that need.

“The fire service filled my camaraderie cup.”

When he’s not on-duty as a shift captain for Hendersonville Fire Department, Chris may be found spending time with his family in their community or helping others prepare for emergencies with his company Paravar Group LLC.

What advice do you have for other firefighters?

Even with 14 years of service as firefighter, Captain Gonzales is the first to admit that he doesn’t have it all figured out, but he knows much more than he did on day one. His words of advice to other firefighters come from many years of experience.

Learn something new or get better every day. Challenge yourself every chance you get.

“Our scope of proficiency is so vast. Find the thing that you really love or excel at and be the best you can be at it,” Chris teaches. While the list of skills to improve upon is always growing, Chris reminds other firefighters to always appreciate the overall positivity of the job.

“Don’t ever forget how great this career is and don’t forget why you’re here.”

What are the biggest changes you foresee in the fire service?

The fire service is embracing data to focus its efforts and do the most good for the most people. Captain Gonzales believes that leveraging data to help firefighters better serve their communities will drive the fire service to become more proactive moving forward.

“The fire service has traditionally been reactive. We can do better.”

Although firefighters are eager to respond to mitigate fire damage, they will agree that the best response to a fire is one that never happens in the first place.

There is more data today than the world has ever seen. In fact, 90% of all of the data in the world was generated in the last two years… Firefighters have more access to more data than ever before. This data can be used to reduce risks in certain areas and understand how to prevent emergencies before they take place.

The firefighters out there who are concerned that less emergencies means less jobs can rest easy knowing that their job cannot be replaced by technology. But technology can be used to enhance their capabilities. And when there’s a new piece of equipment that a fire department needs, a much more convincing proposal can be made by leveraging this wealth of data to justify the need for new equipment.

Like most firefighters, Captain Gonzales has a lot of stories he can share. The story that stands out most in his mind is a happy story of success.

They responded to a call for a pregnant mother who was about to give birth before she could make it to the hospital. Only one person from the responding crew had kids and had been around a child birth. It was the mother’s first pregnancy as well.

“Are you sure you can’t make it to the hospital?” Chris attempted one last time to pass on the child birthing responsibilities to someone at the hospital with a little more experience in this scenario.

“Yep, it’s happening now,” the mother was sure.

Chris and his colleagues looked at each other with wide eyes. They knew that the fate of this mother and her child was in their hands.

They got to work and were able to help the first-time mother successfully deliver her baby boy.

A couple of weeks later, the mother and father came by the fire station with their new-born son and gave the crew a plaque to thank them.

For Chris and his colleagues that call will always remind them of why they are firefighters.

“We come into these families’ lives at the most critical moments and we have to deliver,” Captain Gonzales remarked. “It’s very special.”