Folcik, Kurtz Honored for Years of Fire Service to Southington

John Folcik and Peter Kurtz have long been familiar faces on response scenes and at fire programs across the community, spending the past 30 years together with the Southington Fire Department.

Now the two will get some greatly deserved rest, although it was not an easy decision for either of the longtime firefighters – both who each rose to the rank of captain – to walk away from the job. Both men retired this year after 30 years on the force.

Kurtz last week was given a special procession home as part of a fire tradition, dressed in his gear as he was brought home to his waiting wife on a fire truck. It’s the kind of send-off given to longtime employees following retirement, especially given the job creates a bond that lead firefighters to see one another as family, several coworkers said.

It was the same ceremony given to Folcik at the end of January on his last day, officials said.

“It’s not like a regular job,” Kurtz told the Record-Journal last week. “You work 24 hours with them. You eat, sleep and work together. It felt like high school graduation. Some of the people you’ll never see again, and it was a little tough.”

The two men joined the department in 1984, starting just one day apart. They went through the ranks together, became captains together and it was only fitting that they should retire together.

Folcik, one of the longest serving captains in fire department history, first earned the role in 1991, Capt. Alan Zygmunt said in a press release.

Kurtz, known for starting the Community Emergency Response Team about eight years ago, was named captain a few years later. He now plans to work full-time with Green Way Irrigation, he told the Record-Journal.

As the two head off to life after retirement, share your favorite memories and any thank you that you have for the longtime public servants in the comments section below.

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