Really, what are the chances? Outwardly, the two men could not appear to be more different. One is very tall, sporting a shaved head and is heavyset; the other, average height and weight, sports a crewcut. One is three years older than the other.
Inwardly, they are remarkably the same, each with a passion for volunteering, helping others and saving lives. And each of them wear the same white hat, as both are newly installed fire chiefs: one in East Windsor, the other in Spotswood.
Meet the Brothers Genthe: Steve and Peter.
“As kids, we really didn’t compete with each other, but we did everything together. Still do,“ said Steve Genthe, chief of East Windsor Volunteer Fire Company 2, headquartered in Twin Rivers. “I was the ’middle brother’ in the family.”
Both he and Peter, chief of the Spotswood Fire Department, were introduced to emergency services by a small radio – a fire scanner, given to them when they were young. The pair would hear the fire calls and follow the fire engines on their bicycles.
“It’s something I always wanted to do, to lead men in the right direction and protect others,” said Peter,. “And, believe me, it’s quite an adrenaline rush, too.”
The father of nine daughters and a son, Peter also had an unwanted adrenaline rush when his 19-year old daughter, also a firefighter, sustained a serious injury battling a fire.
“Thankfully, she’s okay now, but it was quite a scare when it happened.“ he said. “We were both on the scene.”
While brother Steve serves as chief of Volunteer Fire Co. 2 in East Windsor, his full-time job is that of a paid firefighter in Monroe Township. He’s now in his 10th year. Peter has been a volunteer firefighter for two decades. Full-time, he’s assistant general foreman at East Windsor’s Department of Public Works.
Steve and his wife, Suzanne, also drawn to emergency services as a paramedic, have a daughter.
When they’re not fighting fires, or spending time with their own families, the Brothers Genthe often find time to head out on their own, enjoying hunting and fishing.
