New London ― Spend enough time behind the wheel of an ambulance or ladder truck and the city can take on a different, grimmer geography than what’s reflected on a map.

“I still have calls that haunt me 20 or 30 years later,” said Fire Chief Thomas Curcio on Monday. “When I drive around, I’ll remember a bad car accident on one street, or someone found shot on a corner. Or a tanker truck fire on the bridge. But this is the job I’ve wanted to do since high school. And I’ve had a great career.”

After 45 years of service to the city ― five as a volunteer and nearly six as chief ― Curcio, 62, will retire on June 7, leaving behind a fire department he considers “the best in the state.”

“I’d been discussing it with city administrators since January, but it’s time now,” he said, explaining a recent home convalescence after hand surgery played a big part in his decision to depart. “I’ve been here with my wife, my children and my grandchildren – they're my priority now.”

Rising through the ranks

Curcio began volunteering at the department as a New London High School senior ― the agency has since pivoted to become an all-paid force ― and returned to the station during college breaks as he earned his emergency medical technician and fire certifications.

“I just always loved being in the firehouse and working shifts on the ambulance,” he said. “You got to know the community. And they knew me.”

Mayor Michael Passero, himself a retired city firefighter who worked with Curcio, called the chief an exemplary leader and fierce advocate for his department.

“He lives and breathes the fire department. For him it’s not a job, but a vocation,” Passero said.

He noted Curcio replaced most of the department’s vehicles during his tenure.

“I’ve never seen the department so well resourced,” he said.

Passero said Curcio is also leaving behind a seasoned cadre of officers.

“That’s the pipeline that will be looked at by myself and my administrative staff going forward as we choose a new chief,” Passero said. “I will be making that appointment from the existing ranks.”

Curcio was sworn in as a paid firefighter in 1984 and was steadily promoted through the ranks until being appointed chief in 2018. In the years before gaining the department’s top job, Curcio worked as a part-time dispatcher, a New London school district substitute teacher and cardiology technician at Lawrence + Memorial Hospital, a facility he expects he’ll return to at some point.

The “epitome of what a public servant should be”

In addition to the equipment, vehicle and infrastructure upgrades that any fire chief is expected to oversee, Curcio also helped create new partnerships with community and municipal organizations.

Those cooperative efforts led to a new high school EMT program, the receipt of free Narcan doses and the formation of a fire investigation team that includes city police detectives.

But Curcio said he’s most proud of expanding mutual aid relationships in New London.

“Before, we’d always get the (Naval Submarine Base) FAST team in case of entrapment, but just by reaching out to other chiefs, we’ve now got Poquonnock Bridge out of Groton and Electric Boat for second alarms or higher, and Waterford’s ladder company,” he said. “It’s about protecting each other.”

Poquonnock Bridge fire Chief Jeffrey Rheaume, a longtime colleague, said Curcio, who is also the city’s emergency management director, had an admirable ability to multi-task.

“He could handle a multi-alarm fire at noon and be making calls at 2 p.m. for a new headquarters roof,” Rheaume said. “And he wasn’t the sort to sit idly by when an issue came up. This was a man who seemed to always be on the clock and watching him helped me be a better chief.”

Curcio said he came to the chief’s job with the goal of emphasizing the mental health aspects of a job often defined by its physicality.

“We know about the lasting effects of (post-traumatic stress disorder) and there’s a lot of police, fire and emergency workers with those issues,” he said. “I wanted to make sure supervisors recognize if someone is suffering and we provide them with help. That might mean sending someone home after a bad call.”

New London Human Services Director Jeanne Milstein recalled the exact date she met Curcio.

“It was my first day on the job, Feb. 2, 2016, and I walked in the door not even knowing where my office was,” she said. “And there was Battalion Chief Curcio with a list of things to talk about.”

Over the years the two worked to reduce the number of frequent, non-emergency hospital transports and to foster closer relations with the community.

“Tom is the epitome of what a public servant should be,” Milstein said. “He cares deeply about the community and men and women of the fire department. And he does that by combining vision with implementation.”

j.penney@theday.com