PUNTA GORDA — Some colleagues questioned his logic when Rob Hancock left a longtime career as assistant fire chief of the mammoth, 600-employee Hillsborough County Fire & Rescue Department in 2005 to become chief of the little Punta Gorda Fire Department, with just 30 employees.

But to Hancock this small, waterfront town seemed a perfect fit. Its size allowed him to have a close-knit relationship with his firefighters and the community, Hancock said Thursday.