In his 35 years with the Evanston Fire Department, Don Kunita has saved lives–he’s carried people from burning buildings and restarted the heartbeats of heart attack victims.

But, on the eve of his retirement, the 63-year-old battalion chief remembers the blaze that nearly cost him his life.

It was 1996. Kunita and several other rescue teams responded to a large apartment fire at 808 Judson Ave. Photographs show massive flames pouring through the building’s windows. Kunita was on the second floor, engulfed by thick smoke that made visibility impossible, when he became disoriented.

“Even with the help of radio assistance, in any confined space, visibility is zero and you’re battling heat and smoke and you have to maintain your sense of balance and location. It’s easy to get turned around,” Kunita said.

Alan Berkowsky, former Evanston fire chief, remembers hearing the chilling event play out over the department’s radio system — he could hear that Kunita was lost inside the burning building, and he could hear Kunita describe the pitch-black conditions due to the amount of smoke around him.

What was worse, though, was that Berkowsky and the other firefighters could hear that Kunita’s oxygen tank had sounded an alarm to signal it was running low.

“You don’t know how much time is left,” Berkowsky said.

Kunita remained calm, even as his life was in more jeopardy than at any other point in his career.

“As I’m listening to things unfold over the radio, you never heard panic in his voice,” Berkowsky said.

Kunita was able to find a window, break through and climb a ladder to the ground. During his escape, a shard of broken glass pierced his glove and lacerated his finger, severing a nerve that required surgery later to restore partial feeling.

Kunita’s demeanor during the ordeal was inspiring to younger firefighters, Berkowsky said.

“Even in what would be a terrifying situation for anyone, he remained calm, cool and collected,” Berkowsky said. “I think Don is the type of employee that every firefighter wants in their department.”

On Monday, Kunita–who moved up through the ranks from firefighter to paramedic to captain and eventually to his current rank of battalion chief–spent his last day with the department. He also worked as a fire inspector and investigator and was a state certified evidence technician.

While retelling the hair-raising story of the Judson Avenue fire, Kunita exhibits the same calm Berkowsky described.

“You feel the fear, but you go back to your training and you realize that this is so important and its’ a matter of survival. Your training really prepares you for that,” he said.

The fire service became Kunita’s life, but it wasn’t the fulfillment of a lifelong dream. He didn’t lay awake at night as a youngster dreaming about someday battling fires and savings lives.

“You’ve heard stories where for some kids that’s all they wanted to do forever. That wasn’t me,” said a chuckling Kunita.

“I was looking around for a job back then, in ’75 or ’76. I came across it and said maybe I’ll try that,” he said. “I tried it and I stayed. I said, ‘Well, this is working out OK for me.’”

Now, 35 years later, it is a difficult profession to leave, he said. Kunita still beams with pride when showing a visitor through Evanston’s fire station at 1332 Emerson St.

“I think the allure is going on the calls and helping people,” Kunita said. “That’s what holds you. Interesting calls — they’re all different.”

He’s seen a fair share of technology changes through the years — GPS navigation, laptop computers in every vehicle, advanced life support equipment, the list goes on and on. But one thing has always remained: “The danger is always in there,” Kunita said, gesturing his hand in the air toward a figurative burning building.

Another allure that hasn’t changed over the years is the bond firefighters make with each other.

“That’s an attraction, that culture. All that support — the support for one another,” Kunita said. In the station’s office, he shows the department’s schedule, and proudly points to the names of two fathers whose sons have now joined them.

The job’s unusual hours — 24 hours on, 48 hours off — and the dormitory living, with bunk rooms and communal eating, made the job more fun, he said. Even the potential for danger was a positive attribute.

“You know you take all of that together, and I found that rather appealing. Odd as it may seem,” he said.

Retirement will be an adjustment, Kunita admits.

“It’s a lifestyle I’ll miss,” he said. “It’s a great feeling to go on a call and help people. That’s what a 911 call is — a call for help. And then you come back here (to the station), cook up some food, then go out and repeat it again.”

But now that rough schedule, and an aching back from 35 years of lugging heavy equipment, is starting to add up, Kunita said.

“You start feeling it, there’s no doubt about that,” he said. “I’m thinking, I’m 63, and I think, well, I’m still in good health. And I just feel it’s time. It’s time for others to step in, and that’s what’s rewarding — to see others, to promote up or step into the upper positions.”

A single man, Kunita is uncertain what he’ll do in his retirement. He used to enjoy camping and hiking, he said.

“I will definitely have more time to do things like that,” Kunita said. “I’ll just take one day at a time. I don’t want to jump in and commit to a line of work or anything right away.”

Berkowsky, now fire chief in Winnetka, remembers Kunita twice before pondering retirement. He just loved it too much to leave it, Berkowsky said.

“Many times he would come in on his off days just to see if he could help. That’s how much the job meant to him. He was always thinking about Evanston,” Berkowsky said. “I think you would be very hard-pressed to find a more dedicated and loyal employee than Don Kunita.”

Kunita said he was never bored on the job, and he’s not anticipating boredom to define his retirement.

“Hopefully not,” he said. “I think I can find things to do.”