WILBRAHAM – After working for the Wilbraham Fire Department for 40 years, including the past 14 as chief, Francis Nothe will retire on Jan. 20, 2017.

Nothe told Reminder Publications he views his retirement with mixed emotions.

“It’s all I’ve done for 40 years, so change is good and change is hard,” he noted. “Basically the department’s in a good spot right now so I think it’s a good jumping off point for me. My father’s 90 years old and still works seven days a week at his business that he owns in Monson. I’m going to go over there and try to help him out a little bit.”

He said firefighting has seen many changes since he first started his career path in 1977, including firefighter safety.

“We used to ride the rear step of the apparatus and put boots and helmets and coats on as the truck was driving down the road, which is probably an unsafe practice,” he explained. “Fire trucks used to be open cab, so they were built that way. Supposedly you could have better visibility of a scene showing up, but in the winter it was difficult at best. There was as much snow inside the cab as there was outside. It’s come a long way. We have heat and air conditioning in some of the newer trucks now and the gear is much better firefighter safety wise. Through better building codes and detection systems, because fires are picked up at the insipient stage, there is less fire and less fire damage.”

Nothe said the demand for medical expertise in the department has increased now that the baby-boomer generation has grown older.  

“The medical side of the business back in the 1970s was load and go, basically just drive fast and administer oxygen or whatever basic life support measures you could do,” he noted. “The majority of our department is at the paramedical level now … Basically the ambulances today are an emergency room on wheels. The skill set is so much higher. It takes a year and a half to go through paramedic school and become certified.”

One of the department’s achievements that Nothe said he is proud to have had a hand in making a reality is the reopening of Fire Station #2 on Woodland Dell Road. The second fire station closed in 1979 and reopened about 12 years ago.

“Basically we split the work force in half and put a couple of people down there,” he explained. “Just having an engine and an ambulance or getting a set of eyes on scene five to six minutes earlier makes all the difference in the world in your initial size up than traveling all the way from Boston Road to the south end of town.”

He added he takes pride in the quality of staff in his department that has been hired over the years.

“We have a high retention rate of employees and we’re pretty selective in our hiring process,” Nothe said. “We have very good people doing very good work morning, noon, and night, seven days a week. I’m very proud of them and their efforts to support the mission of the department.”

The department is hoping to replace its aged 1984 ladder truck and a 1992 pumper truck with a combined vehicle now as Quint truck, Nothe said. Funding would need to be approved by a future Town Meeting.

“It’s a two for one so to speak,” he explained. “Fire trucks are very expensive, but you have to look at it as a 20-year investment too.”

When asked if he’d like to share any words of advice to his successor, Nothe replied, “No. Hopefully I’ve left the organization in better shape. We always try to advance and hopefully he’ll have support wherewithal to take the department to the next level wherever that may be.”