With heavy hearts, the Ventura County Fire Department announces the line of duty death of Engineer Thomas “Tommy” James Daniel Minadeo. Minadeo, 32, from Ventura, was diagnosed with job-related cancer last October and had been undergoing chemotherapy before his death on Friday, March 7. “Tommy was part of our fire family for nearly 10 years, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with us in response to our community’s public safety needs,” Fire Chief Dustin Gardner said. “We now stand with Tommy’s mother, Diana Minadeo; fiancé, Vanessa Gubbels; brother, Anthony; and sister, Jackie Minadeo-Spittler, in grieving his passing and supporting each other.” Minadeo joined the Ventura County Fire Department as a seasonal fire control worker in 2015. In 2017, he was hired as a firefighter, graduating from Academy 54. He was promoted to engineer in 2022 and served his final assignment at Station 45 in Simi Valley.

‍