Jesse Lopez Nicasio was born and raised in Modesto, and began his fire service career in 1972 as a volunteer with what was then the Industrial Fire Protection District. He rose to become department chief and when the agency consolidated in 1993, he moved over to become a fire captain, a role he held for a decade. Jesse was a founding advisor of the department’s Fire Explorer program, helping launch the career of many firefighters. Outside of work, Jesse loved to spend time with his family. In January 2018, Jesse succumbed to the effects of job-related cancer.