Daniel Gutierrez has seen up-close a range of human life, from birth to death, when answering the call of a firefighter.

Gonzales Fire Department Captain Gutierrez is one of two other captains, Juan Banuelos and Manuel Fernandez, and one paid firefighter, Assistant Fire Chief Jason Muscio, and about 18 other volunteers who make up the Gonzales Fire Department.

Captain Gutierrez answered the call to be a firefighter in 2001, when his good friend Mario Mottu told him of his experience as a volunteer and thought it looked like a challenge. He was later approached by David Martinez to attend a meeting.

“It looked like a fun group,” Gutierrez said. “I joined up after asking myself why I wanted to do this.”

His answer was that it was something he had always wanted to do as a child. Then when he decided to join, he had a wife and two babies.

“I thought it would be a good way to give back to my community and to meet more people,” he said.

His wife Delia was raised in Gonzales, while he was raised in Salinas. When they got married they moved to her hometown.

To be a volunteer, he said, there are challenges to face, such as pagers going off at all times, and no benefits, such as holidays and vacations. “I could be at a birthday party when the pager goes off. I have to leave the party to answer the call,” he said.

“The family understands the sacrifice and they know what I’m doing,” he said.

Both Delia and Daniel are supervisors at the Monterey County Child Support division.

“I have an agreement with the management that if the call is serious, I need to go. I then take that day off of my vacation day or from sick leave,” Gutierrez said. “People, for the most part, don’t realize that the volunteers receive the same training as a paid firefighter, but receives no pay and no benefits, and the work can be dangerous.

“One of those calls occurred when Fernandez and I were answering a call to a mobile home north of the prison and we had been told that the fire was extinguished,” Gutierrez said. “We were there popping doors. I felt uneasy about it and when the door popped open, flames threw us back. That was the most dangerous call to date.”

That incident taught him how important a buddy is on a call like that one. “We had each other's back, and that incident made us more careful,” he said. “This fire wasn’t fully evaluated before we went in. That causes me to always think of the risk versus the benefit.”

Another incident Gutierrez remembers is the call he answered at McDonald’s in Gonzales. “The lady was on the way to the hospital to give birth but didn’t think she’d make it so they stopped at McDonald's and called for emergency help,” he said. “We assessed the situation and saw the baby crowning. It was going to be born there. She asked if I wanted to watch the birth process. I didn’t.

“I’ve seen so many people who died on the scene, maybe 30 or 40, I don’t know how many. You don’t forget the faces of those who died there at the scene.”



For the complete article see the 07-28-2010 issue.

Click here to purchase an electronic version of the 07-28-2010 paper.