As a child, Local 798 Fire Fighter Robert Duat dreamed of becoming a fire fighter. Years later, that dream came true when he joined the fire service after playing professional basketball overseas.
“Something happened to my dad when I was younger where he collapsed,” said Duat. “And then the fire crews showed up. Seeing them walk in, seeing how they treated me, especially as a child, that kind of started my love for the fire service, and my parents, who always helped others.”
After retiring from his basketball career, friends suggested he apply to become a fire fighter. “I had friends at the gym who said, ‘This is the perfect job for you because you’re physical, you’re smart, and you can handle the medical side of it.’ So, I said, okay, no problem. And it always brought me back to that moment when the fire department came to my house and helped my dad. Actually, they resuscitated him. I remember them doing compressions. That always stuck with me,” he said.
As an Asian American fire fighter, Duat says it’s been powerful for others from similar backgrounds to see him in uniform. “Growing up, careers like police or fire wasn’t something our parents talked about or encouraged. There just weren’t many Asian or Pacific Islanders in these roles. But if one kid sees me and thinks, ‘I could do that too,’ that’s a start,” he said. “It’s similar to how things changed in the NBA 20 years ago. There were very few Asian players. Then came Yao Ming, and now you see more representation. Once someone breaks through, it opens the door for others.”
There just weren’t many Asian or Pacific Islanders in these roles. But if one kid sees me and thinks, ‘I could do that too,’ that’s a start.”
Local 798 Fire Fighter robert duat
Duat also spoke about how important it is for fire departments to reflect the communities they serve. “People usually are more comfortable,” he said, recalling a recent call. “They were Filipino, and I ended up talking and speaking to them in Tagalog. That calmed them down. So, it’s just little things like that, you know, which help.”
Now, Duat encourages both young people and adults to consider the fire service, even if they think it’s too late. “You can do it. I mean, I got in later. As long as you’re willing to do the job and you’re a very personable man or woman, if you’re capable and you really want to do the job, go for it,” he said. “The one thing that my basketball coach used to tell me: you miss every shot you don’t take. So, you might as well take it.”
PATRICIA YUEN LUÍ,
LOCAL 798 FIRE CAPTAIN
This September marks nearly three decades in the fire service for Local 798 Fire Capt. Patricia Yuen Luí, who joined the San Francisco Fire Department (SFFD) as one of 24 recruits in the 94th Fire Academy Class. “I still love serving the public, mentoring young fire fighters, and going to fires as much as I did when my career first began,” said Yuen.
Yuen Luí began her career in San Francisco’s Chinatown and rose through the ranks to become Captain of Recruit Training and will soon be returning to lead Engine 39. “I found my forever home in the foggy, yet beautiful, St. Francis Woods neighborhood,” she said.
Inspired by friends and mentors Robbie Wong and Ricky Hui, Yuen Luí decided to join the fire service after she heard an ad on local radio calling on women to join. She was one of a few chosen from thousands of applicants and recalls her first assignment at Chinatown’s Station 2 as very different from her upbringing.
“I gave myself a pep talk the night before. I told myself that I could blend right in,” she said. “The thing I love most about my job are the great conversations shared in the firehouse and growing up in a traditional Asian American family, my parents expected me to study and keep conversations to a minimum.”
Yuen Luí now teaches disaster preparedness, reads to elementary school children, attends career fairs, promotes fire safety, and says her goal is to inspire more women to consider a career in the fire service.
“I hope that women in the fire service will be inspired by my story and jump over whatever hurdle may be stopping them to pursue promotion. I hope that elementary school kids, excited that a fire fighter is coming to read a book, will envision a female fire fighter walking into the room with a book in hand,” she said.
KEITH ONISHI,
LOCAL 798 RETIRED FIRE FIGHTER
Retired Local 798 Fire Fighter Keith Onishi spent over 30 years protecting the city, but he says his path to the fire service was completely unexpected.
“I got in by accident,” he said. “It was totally bizarre. We had just sold our restaurant, and my friend arranged for me to take the test and then I got in, which was amazing.”
Shortly after joining, he was severely injured in a deadly fire in San Francisco, where one of Onishi’s colleagues was killed and several others left injured. “I was in the hospital for 21 days. And then, you wonder, ‘Why am I here?’ It kind of became an obsession.”
He spent 11 months recovering before returning to light duty. When he returned to full duty, he asked to be assigned to Station 1 in the heart of the city. “We were once the busiest rescue squad in the nation,” he said.
Onishi was one of the founding members of a concerned group of fire fighters that eventually became the San Francisco Firefighters Cancer Prevention Foundation. Their work gained national attention and was featured in a documentary. “We were featured in an HBO special called ‘Toxic Hot Seat.’ It was the No. 1 on-demand special in HBO history at the time. That’s what made us ‘famous,’ and how cancer became presumptive in San Francisco,” he said.
Now, departments across the country follow their lead. “That’s what I’m most proud of and how it changed things for fire fighters across the U.S. and around the world,” he said. “It was all due to retired SFFD Capt. and SFFCPF President Tony Stefani, a cancer survivor, and I was lucky to be part of it.”
After retiring in 2023, his advice to young fire fighters: “Always wear your gear. Wash all your equipment because before, we didn’t, because it was like a badge of honor. But now? Wash your helmet, wash everything. Take lukewarm showers before hot ones, so toxins don’t seep into your pores,” he said.
