FIRE INSPECTOR INSPIRES DREAD & RESPECT
Red Bank Fire Inspector John Drucker and his dreaded cruiser. (Photo by Dustin Racioppi; click to enlarge)
By DUSTIN RACIOPPI
There’s no mistaking the seriousness of a situation when the white-and-red cruiser marked ‘6431’ pulls in front of your home or business.
The man behind the wheel is something of a fate holder, there to deliver good news or bad, to tell what you did right or wrong, to say you’re ready to open for business or that there’s more work to do.
“When the 31 rolls up, they know it’s John,” said John Drucker, Red Bank’s fire inspector and building code official, positions akin to taxman in terms of the dread they inspire.
But Drucker, 53, says his aim is to make sure a home- or businessowner has followed every step required to complete a project. It’s a job designed to focus on minutia, and can send property owners to their flashpoints. But it’s a job that, once done, has a payoff for everybody involved, he says.