Bob Curcio, chief engineer at Eastern Salisbury Fire Department, admits he was a very busy guy back in the middle decades of his life.

“Having four kids growing up in a community like Salisbury, it just seemed natural to be involved with them in sports, Scouts and church activities,” Curcio said.

“And it seems that the busiest people always run into other busy people who want to help you be even more busy,” Curcio said about how he became involved as a first responder with the east side’s fire department.

As his children grew older and the chauffeuring and coaching diminished a bit, Curcio began paying more attention to his community friends who “ran with” ESFD, and were always dropping hints about the need for volunteers.

“One Monday night, which I knew was training night” at the fire station at East Emmaus Avenue and Honeysuckle Road, “I just dropped by and asked what I had to do to be a volunteer fireman,” Curcio said.

He took the five-month “firefighter one” training which was required to qualify to be an interior firefighter, and participated in the department’s weekly ongoing training sessions to increase his skills.

“Since I was in my mid-40s 13 years ago, some people kidded me this new adventure was my ‘mid-life crisis,’” Curcio joked.

As time went on, Curcio gravitated to the mechanical side of firefighting, and keeping the department’s equipment always well-maintained and ready to do its work.

“After all, this is what I do for a living,” Curcio said of his work as a truck mechanic for Hunter Peterbuilt in Breinigsville.

It’s not uncommon for Curcio to begin his day picking up an engine for Eastern Salisbury, Fountain Hill or Western Salisbury fire departments, transporting it to the shop for routine maintenance, inspection or minor repairs, then having it back in the fire station that evening ready to go.

Having served as a firefighter, lieutenant, and a captain alongside the department’s other firefighters, Curcio has worked a lot of incidents, from animal rescues, to searches, structure and field fires to motor vehicle accident rescues.

While no major incidents stand out in his mind as highly memorable, a daytime residential fire in 2006 along East Lynnewood Street marked his first serious interior firefighting effort.

“We went into the home from a raised front-yard basement entry point, and I recall how smoky and dark it was, and how long it felt for outside firefighters to open ventilation points and get some of that smoke cleared out so we could better see what we were doing,” Curcio recalled.

Others in his family are touched by the fire service. Curcio’s and his wife, Victoria’s, oldest daughter, Rebecca, is married to Eastern Salisbury Fire Police Officer Roger Schmoyer III, and the Curcio’s son, Robbie, joined the department 10 years ago as a junior firefighter as soon as he turned 16.

Wife, Torri, is part of the department’s auxiliary and serves as the fire department’s treasurer.

While he is gratified to see some younger people beginning to volunteer to augment the department’s roster, Curcio said it’s very hard to find people today who are willing to make the commitment to be a volunteer first responder.

“The training required, the commitment to constantly upgrade skills and learn to properly use safety techniques and equipment, and the willingness to be ready to leave home and family when a pager sounds is not something that everyone is suited to,” Curcio said.

“When you are a first responder, you are always on duty,” Curcio said. “If I can get there, I go.”