By Sue Pascoe
Editor
After 37 years as a firefighter, Captain Tom Moore of Fire Station 69 is retiring.
The Thousand Oaks resident came to Pacific Palisades in 2014 after working with the Hazardous Materials Task Force in San Fernando Valley, and the Urban Search and Rescue Task Force in Hollywood.
An LAFD captain on the C-shift, Moore has had to endure four orthopedic surgeries, including both shoulders, a knee and an elbow.
“We choose a profession where we use our body as a tool,” Moore said on his last day at the station on July 29. “Physically, we have to do so much.”
Through different assignments, he’s been to structure and brush fires, worked during the riots in 1992 and in the aftermath of the 1994 Northridge earthquake.
Moore was on the scene after the train crash in Chatsworth that saw 25 fatalities. “The emotional stresses are there,” he said. “We see lots of tragedies. It’s really tough sometimes.”
He stressed that firefighters try not to bring those stresses home to the family.
Moore and his wife Amy have three children: Kelly works as a nurse in Ventura, Jason is a studio prop master, and Joey is still a student.
Given all the surgeries, why did he stay with firefighting all these years? “It’s a lot of fun, especially in a community like this where you’re well appreciated,” Moore said.
“It’s pretty unusual that you love coming to work 37 years, but I did. What really makes this job is the people. I’ve been at a fire station a third of my life. This is like another family.”
The captain expressed thanks to his crew and the people he worked with.
Immediately after retirement, Moore and his entire family were going to Hawaii for 10 days.
His wife will continue to work and he plans to be the “stay-at-home” dad for his 10-year-old son. “He plays travel baseball, basketball and golf,” Moore said about his son. Additionally, his older son Jason is marrying in October.
When he was not working, Moore liked road and mountain cycling, golf and fishing. The one piece of advice he’d give Palisades residents? “Call 911 if there is an emergency. Do not call the station directly, which could cause a delay in the proper resource being dispatched.”
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