ELYRIA — Interim Fire Chief Joe Pronesti said he can sum up his first day as leader of the Fire Department with one word: Trepidation.

Early Friday morning, less than 24 hours after Mayor Bill Grace promoted him, Pronesti walked into the fire chief’s office and surveyed the scene. Paperwork, folders and books — all signs of the work to come — filled both the desk and a nearby couch.

But he had no time to wonder whether he was ready to take the lead.

Instead, he said, he sat down in the chair and got to work.

“I just dug right in to see what I could do to learn this job,” he said. “Being a firefighter is the only job I have ever wanted. But being the chief is something I just started to dream of about two or three years ago. I just assumed it would come after Zielinski’s retirement — when I’m called to City Hall and all my family is there to watch my father pin the chief’s badge on me.”

It’s hard to tell which one thing started the sequence of events that led to Pronesti, 38, taking the lead, but August 2007 seems to be the starting point.

That’s when Grace, fueled by the desire to put the Fire Department’s budget in line, made an executive decision to lower minimum staffing from 17 firefighters to 14. The move essentially closed the East Broad Street fire station.

What followed was a series of public meetings, resident petition drives, presentations and varying opinions that all worked in concert to drive a wedge between the city administration and the Fire Department. The stress of the situation affected the health of Chief John Zielinski, who is on extended family medical leave.

For anyone on the outside looking in, it appeared as if the Fire Department was on a downward spiral.

Through it all, Pronesti said, he concentrated on the good he saw from the trenches.

“I really didn’t think the department couldn’t be in a better place,” he said. “I have always believed the Fire Department was going to be great again.”

But to accomplish that, Pronesti knew he had to be more than just a guy on the truck. Firefighters are the nuts and bolts of the department’s operation, but to effect real change, Pronesti knew he had to be at the top.

So, when Zielinski gave notice last fall that the chief’s test would be given in February, Pronesti signed up and began studying feverishly. During that time, he was also in the midst of a three-year executive fire officers program at The Ohio State University.

He said, looking back, that he spent many sleepless nights away from his family with his nose in a book. Everything about his life was put on hold until he took and passed the chief’s test. Which he did, outscoring fellow fire Capt. Rich Benton to snag the top spot.

And that’s where he stayed — the heir apparent — until he was called to City Hall on Thursday and told he would lead the department. He replaced Assistant Chief Bob Dempsey, who as fire marshal becomes acting chief whenever the chief is unavailable in accordance with city law and who the day before had proposed radically reducing the department’s duties in light of the budget cuts.

With all the drama that has transpired, many would have to ask Pronesti why he would want to take over as chief. But for him, the answer is simple. Firefighting is as much a part of his life as the nose on his face.

He started almost straight out of high school at the age of 19 and for years served alongside his father, retired firefighter Joe Pronesti Sr., who gave the department 30 years of his life. He met his wife, Lori, through the department. Her father, Larry Fosselius, and her grandfather, Rothard Buterbaugh, were both captains in the department.

And his greatest mentor and confidant is Sheffield Fire Chief Jeff Young.

With that kind of legacy serving as his foundation, Pronesti said he is ready to build a better department on the best thing he has going — his firefighters.

“We have a dedicated group of guys who are fighters. It doesn’t matter if that is fighting fires or fighting City Hall,” he said. “We are going to be great again and it will be because of everyone. I can’t do it alone.”

Knowing that he will be calling on them for help doesn’t surprise his fellow firefighters, who know him as “Joe.”

“He’s just a nice guy,” said Assistant Chief Robert Donofrio, who started alongside Pronesti in 1989. “Joe’s heart is in the right place because he truly cares about the Fire Department. He cares about the direction the department is going and the citizens of the city because he is one. He lives right here.”

Nonetheless, that doesn’t mean that Pronesti is oblivious to the department’s faults.

“My main focus is to bring some stability to the department,” he said. “We’ve been in the public limelight for too long. It’s time we turned our attention back to the Fire Department.”

Pronesti said the much-anticipated management audit, which when completed will serve as a blueprint for the department, will help. There has never been a good plan for the department, and now is as good a time as any to draw up one, he said.

Pronesti describes himself as a bit of a visionary who sees Elyria as a four-station town — maybe even a five-station town — in desperate need of more personnel. He has a lot of plans for the department.

Yet, even before he took one step into the office on East Broad Street, he learned from a good source that it’s best to take slow, steady steps toward achieving goals.

From one chief to another, Police Chief Mike Medders took the newly appointed department head to the side Thursday and told him to “take it slow and stay motivated.”

Being the police chief — or the fire chief — is not a sprint, it’s a marathon, Medders told him.

“If you start out making changes real fast, you will not only tire yourself out, but you will also make everybody else nervous,” Medders said. “I was working 15- to 16-hour days and was still having trouble keeping up. This job is about pacing yourself.”

Some sage advice from a sound adviser, Pronesti said.

Pronesti is the type of guy who is happy to take the advice of others.

“You just don’t walk in this office thinking you know it all,” he said. “And, if you make a mistake, which I know I will, you admit it and move on because it’s the best thing for the department.”

Pronesti is not the type of guy who sits behind a desk and barks out orders.

He said he wants to be a hands-on, out-there-in-the-public kind of fire chief — the kind you will see in the field going on calls and observing fires and emergencies to see how the department is doing.

When the day comes that the word “interim” is no longer part of his title and he has on the official white helmet of the chief, you can best believe that helmet will get dirty, he said.

Contact Lisa Roberson at 329-7121 or lroberson@chroniclet.com.

 

---

Print this story
Report an inappropriate comment

---

In order to comment, you must agree to our user agreement and discussion guidelines.

Need help? Email Us.

---