Coffee With Fire Chief Denis McCarthy

is a fire chief straight out of central casting. With a Chevron-style mustache, a slight New England accent, and a look in his eyes that says, "I've been through and have seen a lot," McCarthy could get a leading role in a Steven Spielberg production on firefighting.

McCarthy certainly wouldn't need any direction on how to play the part. The no-nonsense public official has lived and breathed it for 33 years, the last seven as the chief of the  

"I have the best job in the world," said McCarthy. "I take great pride in it and I have a smile on my face every night when I go home. You work with people who love doing their job. It's built on camaraderie and teamwork and it's truly a great environment here."

McCarthy, 56, took the reigns of the Norwalk Fire Department in 2005 after spending the previous two and a half years as the fire chief in Westport. He wasn't from Norwalk and didn't come through the system which may have ruffled some feathers within the department.

"We had a tough go of it for awhile," admitted McCarthy, who attended the University of New Haven. "I was the first fire chief in Norwalk that didn't come up through the ranks. But I have everybody's best interests at heart and I look out for them. I make sure I can do whatever I can to make sure they can do the job they love and my number one concern is firefighter safety."

A native of Peabody, Massachusetts, McCarthy seemed destined to be a firefighter growing up in the small, New England blue-collar town. His mother would chase blazes and bring Denis, one of her eight children, to watch the local fire department put them out. Since observing firefighters as a child, through his more than three decades getting paid to put blazes out, McCarthy has seen the fire department operation change dramatically.

"The equipment has gotten so much better and the fitness level has improved a lot," he said. "These firefighters are athletes. They go through 15 weeks of training at the fire academy. Both things have helped the safety factor. When I started in 1978, fatalities among firefighters were well over 100 a year. This year it was 81 and it's been under 100 for the last three years."

McCarthy currently resides in Fairfield with his wife and they have three college-age daughters. The Norwalk Fire Chief is also a cancer survivor who recently celebrated his 10-year anniversary of being free of the disease after brain surgery removed a malignant tumor in December of 2001.

"It does change your life, every day is a gift," he said. "I'm very, very lucky. If anything has impacted me and how I live my life, that was it."

McCarthy is also moved by what he hears from people in Norwalk who've been in emergency situations that his firefighters responded to.

"When a person's house is on fire or someone gets in a car accident, it can be the worst day of their lives," McCarthy said. "I get notes and letters from people saying how much they appreciated one of our firefighters holding the hand of a child in an accident or being there for someone during a difficult time. We are here to serve the pubic and to hear people say that we have really compassionate firefighters that don't leave any stone unturned under really trying circumstances, is nice."