Now, as the newly promoted public information officer and captain of training for the Milford Fire Department, McDaniel is glad he chose the latter career option.

"I did both jobs for four years, firefighting and working at a pharmacy," said McDaniel, who has assumed the vacancy left by the retired Capt. Harold Streit.

"As a pharmacist, I dealt with people who were sick and cranky, and not happy about their high drug bills," he said. "As a firefighter, people are very happy to see you. It's probably the best profession I could hope to find. I feel very fortunate."

McDaniel, 56, grew up in Seattle where he graduated from the University of Washington in 1982 with a degree in pharmaceutical science.

He first visited Connecticut after graduating from high school, with an unplanned stop near New Haven when his car engine blew out on a cross-country road trip with a friend.

He got a job as a dishwasher in a New Haven restaurant, where he met his first wife who was a waitress there. After marrying, they went to Washington, then returned to Connecticut after his college graduation.

"It's a complicated story. I've been back and forth across the country nine times," McDaniel said.

In 1983, while waiting for his pharmacy license to take effect in Connecticut, McDaniel needed to support his wife and daughter so he applied to be both a police officer and firefighter in Milford.

Scoring well on both examinations, McDaniel caught the eye of then-Fire Chief William Healey, who offered him a job as a firefighter, pending successful completion of two months' training.

After training, he joined the Fire Department, tried his hand at juggling the jobs of pharmacist and firefighter for a while, and finally narrowed the choice to one.

"I just decided I was much happier as a firefighter," said McDaniel, who has since divorced, remarried and is the father of five children.

He became a firefighter in January 1983 at the old Engine 4 Spring Street Station in the city's Devon neighborhood. After a year, he took on the added duty of pump engineer in charge of providing water and proper equipment at a fire scene.

In 1992, he transferred to Engine 6 at Point Beach.

"By that time I had the option of doing both the jobs of firefighter and pump engineer. I enjoyed taking the hose into a fire, so I went back to being a firefighter, too," he said.

In 1999, McDaniel was promoted to lieutenant at Engine Six. His promotion to captain, one of six in the department, took place July 8.

McDaniel appreciates the challenge of his new rank. "This is what I've been waiting for, to be captain of training," he said. "The department has a top Class-A rating in the international rating system for fire departments. It's up to me to keep 25 men, both new and experienced, on each of the four shifts, up to the standards of that rating."

Two superior officers, Batallion Chief Douglas Edo and Assistant Chief Lee Cooke, welcomed his promotion. "I've always liked working with Mike. He's a low-key guy," Edo said. "He doesn't get excited. That's a good trait at a fire because his crew wouldn't get excited."

Cooke cited McDaniel's new role as teacher.

"He's dedicated and a hard worker," Cooke said. "It's a big learning curve going from receiving training to conducting training, but we know he's up to it. Now, he's a teacher. You have to know how to do something before you can teach it."