John Nunes followed in the footsteps of a long line of fire service veterans in his family, including his mother.  He got his start as a professional firefighter in 1983 and served 26 years of dedicated service, reaching the post of captain in 1998.  He became a leader in the Urban and Technical Search and Rescue community and tirelessly fought for and advocated toward safer working conditions for firefighters as a safety program member.  He died of job-related APL (Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia) at the age of 50.