We Are Family: New Brunswick Fire Department Welcomes 10 New Members

Theresa Giorgianni climbed on stage, took a look at Joseph Anthony Giorgianni Jr. dressed in his neatly pressed New Brunswick Fire Department uniform, and began to cry tears of joy.

“I’m so proud of you,” she managed to say, throwing open her arms.

The moment Tuesday, July 11, when the 10 newest members of the fire department had their badges pinned to their uniforms by one of their loved ones was the highlight of an emotional ceremony.

Mas, dads, wives, abuelas, little ones, and other family members took part in the ceremony that was held at the New Brunswick Middle School auditorium. A few hundred more cheered and took photos from the audience.

After the recruits-turned-firefighters were sworn in by Mayor Jim Cahill and tore open the envelopes containing their first assignments, they shared the moment with their loved ones.

The word of the day – even above ideals such as duty, honor, and bravery – was family.

That’s also because Giorgianni, Steve Berry, Kendall James, Jonathan Ortiz, Kristian DeArce, Anthony Jones Jr., Jose Jaques, Devin Borke, Michael Schultz, and Brandon R. Smith Sr. now belong to the family of New Brunswick firefighters.

Think about it: These men and women have not only dedicated their lives to protecting ours, but they have to watch each other’s backs when they race into a burning home, help extricate a motorist from a crashed car, or are called on to perform an untold number of other acts of heroism.

And on days when they have to fish someone's keys through a sewer grate, they probably keep each other sane.

The New Brunswick Fire Department has forged a rich history of service since its formal organization in 1764, and Cahill reminded the audience that this can be a perilous profession by recalling the two Newark firefighters who lost their lives last week battling a blaze in Port Newark.

Serving as a member of the fire department, though, seems to be encoded in their DNA. Just ask Deputy Chief William Borke, who pinned the badge to the uniform of his son, Devin.

Through the three-plus months of training, the elder Borke gave his son some advice.

“I preach a lot about using your head and staying calm because you have chaos to deal with and people are looking at us to have the answers,” he said. “They’re there to address every incident in a calm, cool, collected way with knowledge and training, and to stay safe. The object is to go home every day.”

When he was asked if this was advice he would give all the new members of the fire department, Borke said, “Yeah, we’re all brothers, and they’re all basically my sons, too.”

Brandon Smith, a member of the newest class of firefighters, was posing for photos with his kids when he paused to say he couldn’t have gotten to this point without his mom. After all, Cheryl Smith plays a vital role in the department as an administrative assistant to Chief Robert Rawls.

“The greatest advice she’s given me since I was born was to keep my head down and work hard,” Smith said. “You’re not given anything. You have to earn everything.”

The advice came in handy during the newest classes training. They were quizzed on safety rules, learned how to handle life-saving equipment, practiced how to extinguish fires, and endured a vigorous physical fitness regimen that included a long run starting at 6 a.m.

And while running through the streets of New Brunswick, the trainees who called themselves the Furious 10 came to realize they had been welcomed into yet another family: the New Brunswick community.

“People would be out there and when they saw us in our fire department shirts, they would yell and cheer us on,” said Devin Borke, who joins his brother, William Borke Jr., in the fire department.

Story and Photo By: Chuck O'Donnell