Way back in 1980, the year Ronald Reagan was first elected U.S. president, a young man named Larry Tunzi joined the Comptche Volunteer Fire Department. Just 21 years old at the time, Tunzi has served in the department continuously since then, working his way up through the ranks as a firefighter, EMT, department secretary and first assistant chief. In 1992, his fellow firefighters elected Larry Tunzi as fire chief, a position he held for a quarter century.
On March 3, 2018, 38 years after he began his career as a volunteer firefighter, 250 people gathered at the Comptche Firehouse to celebrate Tunzi’s service to his community as he formally retired from his role as Comptche’s fire chief.