Friday, November 30, 2018
YOUNGSTOWN
With his father, grandfather, three uncles and brother all working as city firefighters, some might say John O’Neill was preordained to not only be a city firefighter, but also chief.
O’Neill said Thursday, however, that was not the case. It was his last day as a battalion chief at Station 2 on Indianola Avenue, where he spent most of his career before taking over as fire chief in 1998.
O’Neill said he studied to become a mechanical engineer and was actually working at that when he took a test for the fire department. It was in the wake of the steel mills closing and it was hard to find a job.
He took the test, scored seventh, was hired and immediately thrown into the fray, fighting a fire on his first shift.
That also changed his career path, he said. No more mechanical engineering; he was hooked on firefighting.
“I said, ‘This is for me,’” O’Neill said.
Read more about him in Saturday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.