First blaze hits home for rookie firefighter

DOVER-FOXCROFT — When I was told a few months back that the Dover-Foxcroft Fire Department could use some help, I balked at the idea that I could make it on the department. For one, I live an hour away in Old Town. Two, I know nothing about fighting fires except what I saw in the TV show Rescue Me and the movie Backdraft.
The fact that I worked in Dover-Foxcroft meant I was eligible to join, and the department was looking for daytime help so my lack of skills would be offset by some training in the near future. All that the department was looking for was those who were willing and able to give it a try.
So most of my fire training was basically tied to my TV habits and a few parties in my high school years that included some pretty sizable wood piles.
Neither of those two really helped out much Friday when the pager went off at 9:45 a.m., the first time I was on hand to be called out for a fire in Dover-Foxcroft. All those thoughts of those high school burns and TV shows went right out the window as I raced to the fire station, hopped into my turn-out gear and jumped into the first truck headed to the Dyer residence on the Dexter Road.
I wasn’t naïve to think I would jump right in on my first fire call with little training and be on the front lines to save a home like that. There are plenty of firefighters from other stations in neighboring towns on scene to help fight that fire. In the end, my first fire call pretty much involved me spending more time watching those trained to fight fires do their job until the fire was put out. I got to help later on work through the home and make sure it wouldn’t flare up again, but the immediate action of fighting the fire was left to the seasoned volunteers from Dover-Foxcroft, Dexter, Sangerville and Guilford.
The thing I got from Friday’s incident was the impact such a disaster can have on the family. I saw the raw emotion that was visible on the faces of those who called it home once. It was heart-wrenching to see that, because you never want to see a family have to go through something like that.
Backdraft didn’t teach me about the emotional side of a fire call, but it’s one that has become a huge motivating factor for me. It drives me now more than ever to get my act together, get trained and become a valued member of the fire department.
Well, there’s that and the fact that Rescue Me does make it seem pretty cool to be a firefighter, and you can’t go wrong with that either.