Retired Captain Marc Worton was destined to be in the fire service. Having two parents deeply involved in volunteer fire departments, he was practically born into it. Marc shares his story of becoming a volunteer firefighter as a teenager, eventually getting hired as a full-time career firefighter in Montgomery County, and having a robust career that took him from the fields of Sandy Spring to the high-rises of Bethesda. He answered calls at the 911 center, joined the county's technical rescue team, and so much more.

In retirement, Marc helped to found the Montgomery County Career Firefighters Charitable Foundation, which serves to help firefighters when they have needs that are not immediately job-related. He currently serves as president of the foundation.

Marc can be reached at 240-281-7241. Call or text.

From the time he was a six-year-old boy hearing the fire house sirens sound near his home in Montgomery Village, MD, David Steckel knew he wanted to be a firefighter. When he was finally old enough to join the fire cadet program in high school, his love for the fire service was confirmed and there was no looking back.

After he was hired as a career firefighter in Montgomery County, Maryland, Dave quickly rose through the ranks, becoming one of the youngest officers the department had at the time. After eventually promoting to Battalion Chief, he took an administrative position where he put his skills as a lawyer (!) to work. He continued to rise through the ranks, serving the men and women working in the field from behind the scenes, doing a lot of important administrative and policy work.

Chief Steckel can be reached at DavidCSteckel@gmail.com

For our first female guest on the podcast, we have none other than retired Division Chief Diane Zuspan.

Chief Zuspan originally had no desire to join the fire department. However, she entered the EMS world as a young adult and fell in love with it. Her journey as a paramedic took her from the west coast, to the middle of the country, and finally to the east coast, where she became a full time career firefighter and never looked back.

Diane shares about what it was like to be a woman in the fire service, and the ups and downs that came with that. Fortunately, at every stage of her career, she was surrounded by good men who never made her gender an issue. She was able to rise through the ranks of her department, eventually ending up at the division chief level...one step below chief of the department.

Post retirement, she and her husband (also a retired firefighter) have traveled the world and are fully enjoying living the retired life.

Chief Zuspan can be reached at dianezuspan@comcast.net