SHELBURNE FALLS — For many volunteer firefighters and EMTs, rescuing people in their communities is a calling. And in small towns, the firefighters may know the families that live in the houses they are trying to save.
But what happens when responders can’t rescue a child from a burning house or save the life of a car crash victim? How many tragedies can someone witness before it takes a toll on them?
Shelburne Falls Fire Chaplain Jane Dunning has seen the emotional toll that house fires have taken on fire victims and on area firefighters, which is why she is called on by many fire departments in Franklin and Hampshire counties during the most destructive fires.
An Episcopal pastor, Dunning is one of a dozen fire chaplains in western Massachusetts under the auspices of the state Fire Marshal and the Massachusetts Corps of Fire Chaplains, which was formed in 1999.
Last year, Dunning, a Shelburne Falls resident, received the Mychal Judge Award from the Fire Chaplains Corps. Named for a New York City fire chaplain and Franciscan priest who died on 9/11, the award is one of the Corps’ highest honor, said the Rev. Bruce Arbour, deputy chief of the chaplains’ corps.
Dunning, who is in her late 70s, was asked to serve as the Shelburne Falls fire chaplain by Fire Chief Rick Bardwell in 2012.
Bardwell said the department had a chaplain — the Rev. David Neil, an EMT — for several years before he moved out of town. “He was our chaplain back then, and we kind of revived that tradition,” said Bardwell. “She’s a wonderful person and kind of unique, in that she understands (the work). We’re lucky in that respect — that we have someone who’s very adept and knowledgeable from a firefighting family.
“It was always comforting to know there was someone around who understood, who was an ear you could turn to, no matter what,” he said.
In the 1970s, Dunning, then of Rye, N.Y., was an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) and a paramedic for a volunteer ambulance service. Her husband, Harry, was a firefighter for 49 years out of their 57 years of married life. He died in August.
“I’d be on the ambulance, and he’d be on the truck,” said Dunning. “I understand the first-responder. I don’t think it ever gets out of your blood, when that (emergency) tone goes off, you go.”
In 1991, Jane Dunning was ordained as an Episcopal minister and was assigned to a church in Lenox. She and Harry moved to Shelburne Falls in 1999, where Harry joined the Shelburne Falls Fire Department.
When Dunning became the department’s chaplain, she began sitting in on all the fire trainings, which helped her get to know the western Franklin County firefighters, who often train together. She got to know them, and they got to know her. She has even presided over the weddings of three firefighters, she said.
“You have to have that kind of rapport if you’re a chaplain,” said Dunning. “They’re such good kids. They volunteer, because they care so much. And the same is true with EMTs and medics.”
When asked what a chaplain does, Dunning replied: “What you do, once they get to know you, is you’re a presence that they trust. They know I like them and I care about them. And they know they can talk to me about stuff.
“There’s no proselytizing — no trying to convert someone — that’s part of our training,” said Dunning.
“I try to attend all structure fires, and if family is present, I spend time with them, offering a listening ear, explaining what is going on, and making sure that resources like the Red Cross or Salvation Army are called to assist,” she said.
Another part of the training, she said, is “critical-incident stress management,” or CISM, which focuses on listening, and how to do “debriefing” after a fire or other critical call. “We offer CISM debriefing after a traumatic incident, where the first responders are exposed to tragedy,” she said. “If needed, we can refer individuals to available mental health resources. Repeated exposure to such trauma can lead to psychological damage and can result in further tragedy for first responders and their families.”
Between March 2016 and March 2017, 11 people died in four house fires, in Orange, Greenfield, Erving and Warwick. “All four fires were fought by crews from the same towns,” she remarked.
“With first-responders, it’s cumulative,” Dunning says of the emotional stress. “For one of the responders in Warwick, it was the fourth of four major fires. He just couldn’t go (to fire calls) any more.”
“You think you can carry that stuff, but you keep pushing it down and down,” she said. “It’s going to come out somewhere — sooner or later.”
Chaplains Dunning and Arbour both say the rate of suicides among firefighters is unsettling.
“More firefighters in this past year have died from suicide than from fighting fires,” said Arbour, who also teaches suicide prevention classes. “That’s very sad.”
A study last year, reported in USA Today, reported that 103 firefighters died by suicide, compared to 93 firefighter deaths in the line-of-duty.
A fire chaplain is also there for the fire victims, and aiding those in need of clothing, food or a place to stay. The chaplains work with the Red Cross or other agencies for both the firefighters and fire victims.
Just as many rural departments need more volunteer firefighters, the Chaplains Corps. also needs more chaplains. “If there’s a clergy person interested, we work with them and the local fire department,” said Arbour. “A lot of clergy have no clue of what’s involved. We have standard operating guidelines,” he said. “Once a year, (chaplains) go to the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy, and they provide safety seminars for chaplains and multi-alarm operations set-up.”
More information about fire chaplain training is available online at: massfirechaplains.com