John was hired in 1981 as a Ventura firefighter, promoting to engineer in 1991 and captain in 1997. John brought out the best in the people he worked with and he expected nothing less. He felt great responsibility for those under his leadership and shared in the pain of their failures and the pride of their successes. John was one of Ventura City Fire Department's first water rescue technicians, was on the forefront of handling hazardous materials incidents, and was part of the Urban Search and Rescue team. John Duff died of job-related cancer earlier this year