Tony Rogers, a Westfield Firefighter for 32 years, stands in front of his truck on his last day of work. (Photo by Peter Currier)
WESTFIELD- Longtime Westfield firefighter Tony Rogers had his final day of work Wednesday due to his retirement, and his fellow firefighters gave him a warm sendoff.
Rogers originally joined the Westfield Fire Department 32 years ago in 1987 as a reserve force member. According to Rogers the mayor at the time created the force to cut back a little on overtime. Rogers was on the reserves for four years before he became a full-time firefighter.
“The captain then was Andy Roy,” said Rogers, “he had started an academy here and it was held in a classroom in this building.”
Rogers describes how there were ladder towers in the yard, fire hydrants in the parking lot, and alarm panels used for training. 32 years later, prospective firefighters are sent to train in Springfield and Boston. Rogers had to attend EMT school as a prerequisite within his first year.
Since 1987, like many aspects of life and work, some parts of firefighting have changed.
“The equipment and technology. It’s a science,” said Rogers, “They can really manipulate what a fire is going to do now. The older guys did just as good of a job.”
He added that the older firefighters’ jobs were much more labor intensive than when he started as they would ‘attack it a little harder’. Now, he said, they sit back and look at it to figure out how to approach the situation effectively.
“It is more of a technical type thing,” said Rogers, “it always has been, but now it’s more of a science.”
Rogers said that there is not any one event or call in his time as a firefighter that stood out to him in particular.
“Every event is a good event. When you get to work with your own family essentially,” said Rogers.
Previously, he had been in the Navy and traveled around the world for six years. He was a heavy metal fabricator as well as a firefighter during his military days.
On his last day, his fellow firefighters threw him a prime rib dinner in the main station kitchen on broad street. Old friends and former firefighters stopped by to wish him well on a new chapter in his life. Tom Galczynski, a firefighter who retired 16 years ago, was also present. Galczynski was a member of Group D along with Rogers when they were both in the department.
Now that his career has wound down, Tony Rogers plans to do more carpentry work for a few days a week with plenty of long weekends. He wants to invest in a camper to travel around the country. Despite being well traveled in the Navy, he hasn’t done much travelling within the U.S., but he would like to change that.
