Retired North Adams Firefighter Celebrates Centennial
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Francis Rivers can remember his first day as a firefighter, even though it was 70 years ago.
"I can still remember the first day I come on the Fire Department, the names of all the old-timers," he said on Friday, listing of names of long-passed colleagues. "I laid in bed the other night and I could name all the fellows I worked with.
"That was a long time ago: 1946."
He had returned from the war in Europe and was appointed as a permanent firefighter a couple weeks later by Mayor Cornelius E. O'Brien. O'Brien, he said, told him to take a couple weeks vacation first, saying he'd earned it while overseas.
Rivers, who turned 100 on Sept. 27, is the department's oldest living retiree. To celebrate his centennial, he took a spin in the department's 1941 Mack Fire Engine, that hadn't been quite so vintage when he was driving it decades ago.
"When he first joined, the Fire Department answered 359 calls and when he retired, it was 966 calls," said Fire Director Stephen Meranti. "We think his last major fire was on May 13, 1972, at 4:04 p.m., was a large brush fire on Reservoir Road that ended up burning half the mountain."
During his 26 years in the department, he saw the "new" fire station built in 1955, the purchase of the first Scott airpacks, and an increase in firefighters from 23 to 32. He was a charter member in 1968 of International Association of Firefighters Local 1781; his first year on the job saw wages jump from $4.78 a day to $5.12 a day.
He served under three chiefs — John E. Saulnier, Arthur A. Girard and Albert P. Denelli, the city's first commissioner of public safety, and retired under Denelli in 1972. He was stationed at the firehouse on Union Street, which no longer exists. For one summer, 1968, his son, retired McCann Technical School Principal Gary Rivers, worked alongside him.
His long age may have affected his hearing and eyesight, but he easily dredged up memories of long-ago fires. Sitting with Capt. John Ghidotti, nine years younger, and other former co-workers including Larry O'Brien, Bruce Patenaude and Edward Richer, the men talked about some of the major fires of their tenures.
The Eagle Mill on Eagle Street, the tannery, the lumber yard on State Street, St. Joseph's School and a barn where McCann now sits. Ghidotti remembered a house fire when a child jumped from a window.
"Frank was one of the first ones to arrive there, some kid jumped out the window and he ran over and caught him," he said.
But Rivers said there was another child as well.
"I went up higher to the back way and tried to get the baby but I couldn't get in there was too much fire at that time we didn't have any masks," he said. "I didn't even have my rubber coat on, I think. But I couldn't get in, I couldn't get the baby."
The boy jumping from the window troubled his father for years, Gary Rivers said. "I still see it when I go by that area," his father said.
Another time, he was able to get into a burning second floor to save a woman. He put her over his shoulder and headed for the stairs.
"I collapsed at the top of the stairs from the weight, I don't know how much she weighed ... I was so winded and everything," Rivers said. "Buddy was in back of me and he helped me down the stairs. Buddy and I kind of watched out for one another, we always made sure we were together."
His good friend Maurice "Buddy" Maroni had come on as a permanent member shortly after Rivers. He said Maroni had called him up to sing "Happy Birthday" to him.
The Fire Department also sang to him and presented him with a cake sporting the department's new badge.
"We didn't get you any candles because this is Fire Prevention Week and we didn't want a fire in the fire station," joked Meranti.
Mayor Richard Alcombright pointed out there were three generations of firefighters, several related, in the break room — Rivers and his contemporaries, the firefighters they had trained and the youngest generation.
"This isn't just a job, it's a lifestyle and for many it really perpetuates itself," he said. "It's a really great thing and that's what's pretty unique about this room right now."
Meranti also presented Rivers with an NAFD jacket and hat to keep him warm on Florida Mountain. He echoed the mayor's comments, saying they are all firefighters even after they retire, reliving stories and memories.
"It was one of the nicest jobs I ever had. I enjoyed everybody, all the fellas with me, I know sometimes we had our difficulties but we got over it," said Rivers. "As far as I'm concerned, I don't think there's a better job in the city than the Fire Department."
Tags: centenarian, fire department, NAFD,
