Newly elected LBFD Chief Tasked With Rebuilding

Antonio Cuevas continues to work out of his vehicle after Hurricane Sandy severely damaged all three firehouses in Long Beach, leaving the chief and his assistants without offices at headquarters.

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The newly elected chief of the Long Beach Fire Department takes over the helm as the department works to become whole again. The firehouses were gutted and need rebuilding and the department was set back by many firefighters displaced after the storm.

“At headquarters the progress has been slow because everything has been gutted,” Cuevas said.

In addition, four engine trucks were damaged during Sandy and the department is working with loners until they can be replaced.

“It’s been an uphill battle and it’s just going to take a little longer than expected,” he said about the department’s road to recovery. “We’re going to try to make the department stronger than it was before the storm.”

Despite it losses, though, through donations and assistance from neighboring fire departments, the LBFD is at the ready to protect lives in and property in the city. “All residents should be reassured that no matter what happened to the department, we are equipped to protect them,” he said.   

A lifelong Long Beach resident, Cuevas started his firematic career at the Oceanside Fire Department, where he served for five years before he joined the LBFD in 2001. He was elected to a two-year term as chief in April, replacing outgoing chief Richard Corbett, and has his backing along with 1st Assist. Chief Robert Tuccillo and 2nd Assist. Chief Joseph Miller Jr.

“I have all the confidence in him leading this department and helping rebuilding it as well,” Corbett said of Cuevas. “He has a good relationship with the members. I will always be here to assist him if needed.”

A few years ago, Cuevas was among three firefighters that helped save a woman, Glenna King, and her six-year-old son, Max, from a fire that engulfed their second-floor apartment at an East Olive Street home. When King awoke to the smell of smoke in the wee hours of the morning on July 26, 2010, she went to her son’s room and found him still asleep in his bed, but the fire's thick smoke and intense heat acted as impenetrable wall separating them. 

King called 911 but by the time Cuevas and firefighter Anthony Fallon and Capt. Hadrick Ray arrived, she had blacked out on her bedroom floor. Fallon was able to carry Maxwell down the stairs and Cuevas assisted him in carrying King from her bedroom and down the stairs to safety.  

The trio’s life-saving heroics were honored during a ceremony at the Nassau County Legislature in January 2011, in which they received certificates of recognition. At the time, Cuevas noted that firefighters routinely confront dangerous situations, but that night at King's apartment was more surreal because there were victims involved.  Still, it’s what he’s tasked to do.
"We were simply doing our jobs," he said. "But it's just nice to be recognized for something you did for someone else."

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