Recounting 9/11/01: Denver firefighter Tony Gonzalez.

• Author: Bronikowski, Lynn
• Position: Colorado Career - Helping America's Heroes Fund - Brief Article

THE RING OF THE PHONE JARS Tony Gonzalez from a sound sleep. His partner at Denver Fire Station No. 1 tells him to turn on the TV. Something bad has happened.

"I knew immediately it was something horrible because when a firefighter says it's bad, it's a really bad thing because we've seen it all," said Gonzalez. He has been a firefighter for eight years, starting his career on the Steamboat Springs Fire Department, where he served a year, then joining the Denver Fire Department where he is a technician.

"At first there was disbelief, and then when the towers collapsed - like all firefighters - I knew we had just lost hundreds of firefighters who had gone in to rescue people, and I felt the horror sink into my stomach."

But for the public relations director of Denver Firefighters Local 858 there was little time to grieve. The department issued an "emergency re-call," ordering all firefighters to duty, while the firefighters themselves turned their thoughts to helping the fallen heroes.

A day after the tragedy, Gonzalez and his friend Aaron Jonke, secretary-treasurer of the firefighters' union, along with the Colorado Professional Fire Fighters Association, created the Helping America's Heroes Fund to benefit New York firefighters and police. As of early November the fund had raised $600,000.

"When a firefighter dies, it's the worst pain you can feel," said Gonzalez. Firefighters aren't supposed to die; they are the ones who go in and keep other people from dying."

Gonzalez grew up in Steamboat Springs where his parents have operated a T-shirt shop for 31 years. He recalls wanting to be a firefighter since age 3, influenced by episodes of the TV...