Roselle's new fire chief offers department a 'fresh set of eyes'

Robert Tinucci wasn't looking for a long-term gig when he agreed in July to become the interim chief of the Roselle Fire Department.

Five months later, his office at the fire station still looked like it belonged to someone who could return to retirement at a moment's notice.

With barren walls and piles of paperwork purposely not filed away, the room only had three items that belonged to Tinucci: a nameplate, a sprinkler head and a jar of candy.

"The understanding upfront was that I would serve for an interim period," said Tinucci, who retired as chief of the Darien-Woodridge Fire Protection District in July 2007.

"I figured that I would do the best I can here and keep things going and get some things done. I would try to help transition to the new chief and get out of the way."

What no one expected is that - despite a regional search that culminated with five finalists interviewing for Roselle's fire chief position - village board members decided to offer Tinucci the job. He was sworn in and removed the "interim" part of his title Dec. 14.

"It just occurred to us how happy we were with Bob," Mayor Gayle Smolinski said. "We never thought we would end up with him. But he was just so dynamic in what he's done so far, that we realized how much we liked him as our chief."

For Tinucci, the opportunity to become Roselle's newest fire chief proved too good to pass up.

"It's a small department," the 53-year-old Willowbrook resident said. "But there is a good group of people here. They seemed to welcome me as a fresh set of eyes."

He said he also enjoys working with the village administration and village board. "If it wasn't pleasant, I probably would not have stayed," Tinucci said.

As a result, Roselle has gained someone who brings "a great deal of experience in dealing with fire department operations," said Jeff O'Dell, village administrator.

"From my perspective, he's the right guy for the job right now," O'Dell said. "He has a lot of credibility with the guys, and he's a great addition to our management team."

Tinucci was 18 years old when he started his career with Darien-Woodridge as a part-time firefighter in 1974. He had a history teacher at Hinsdale South High School who would let him leave class to respond to fire calls.

It was all about pursuing a dream Tinucci had since he chased fire trucks around Brookfield as a kid.

"It (firefighting) is the kind of job where you never know what's going to happen that day," he said. "It's not the same old thing every day. Then there's the sense of helping others. We do a lot of functions, but we're pretty much helping others in times of need."

In 1978, Tinucci started working full-time as firefighter with the Darien-Woodridge district. After serving in the roles of lieutenant, captain and assistant chief, he was appointed chief in 1991. At the time, he was 35 and one of the youngest fire chiefs in DuPage County.

During his 16 years as the chief of Darien-Woodridge, Tinucci oversaw a fire protection district with 30 full-time firefighters, 20 part-time firefighters and three fire stations. He takes pride in the fact that he's never had a firefighter seriously injured or killed in the line of duty.

But by 2007, Tinucci wanted to move on, in part, to "let new ideas and new people take over."

After retiring, he remained active in the fire service community working with the Illinois Fire Chiefs Association. He is also the past president of the DuPage County Fire Chiefs Association.

"My wife calls me a workaholic," Tinucci said. "I am more content if I am busy with several projects."

The chiefs association recommended Tinucci when Roselle officials announced they needed an interim chief to replace the retiring Robert Gallas.

"They were looking for someone who was retired or immediately available that was still very active and up to speed on everything," Tinucci recalled.

O'Dell said Tinucci "hit the ground running" in the interim role.

In addition to implementing a new contractual paramedic agreement, Tinucci helped negotiate a 4-year contract with the department's 12 union firefighters. He also is working with administrative staff on a new agreement with the Roselle Fire Protection District.

"He's been involved in a lot of really important projects for us and did a terrific job," O'Dell said.

Tinucci said he wasn't trying to impress Roselle leaders into giving him a job. It's simply not in his nature to let things slip and go unattended.

"There are people who say, 'If it's not broke, leave it alone,'" he said. "Personally, I would rather say, 'If it's not broke, let's break it, fix it and make it better.'"

Tinucci said one of his goals now is to evaluate the overall makeup of the fire department to see if there are any areas that could be improved. In the meantime, he has no intention of overstaying his welcome.

"There is no way that I am going to be here three to five years," he said. "It's going to be less than that. But how much less? I guess I don't want to quantify that right now."

At least he now has a reason to hang a photograph or two on his office wall.