GREENFIELD — Firefighters formed a line at the Fire Station’s bay doors Wednesday afternoon, applauding as Lt. William Taylor gave his final radio sign-off after 33 years of service and stepped into his retirement.
Having begun his career in fire services working on the department’s call service in 1992 before joining full-time in 1997, Taylor has responded to thousands of emergencies. He said he chose a career as a firefighter because he “always enjoyed helping people.”
Over the last three decades, Taylor said he has seen an evolution in the kinds of safety gear used to keep firefighters safe — such as portable radios for all firefighters, thermal imaging tools and modern extrication devices — along with the enhancement of cancer-prevention protocols and mental health awareness.
Taylor described expanding and strengthening mental health support for firefighters and emergency responders as one of his passions. He has served on peer support teams as well as the Western Massachusetts Critical Incident Stress Management team.
“Mental health has seen a huge, huge growth in changes, where before it was, not so much frowned upon, but it wasn’t talked about. You just kind of swallowed it and put it away. Now it’s recognized that it’s good to talk about it,” Taylor said. “If there’s a significant incident, any case or scenario where there’s any type of mental trauma associated, whether it’s a child death or the death of a coworker … the teams will come out and offer support or just an ear to listen to anybody that’s having any sort of trouble processing what’s going on. It’s really a phenomenal program.”
Looking ahead to retirement, Taylor said he plans to “lay low” for a few months before finding a part-time job to keep busy. He said as difficult as it was to walk away from the Fire Department and community he loves, he hopes to stay in touch with his former coworkers — some of whom he’s enjoyed training.
“We have a really great community,” he said. “Watching the new members come in and grow, I learned a tremendous amount from the senior firefighters that retired before me. They’ve paved the way for me to be able to fulfill my dream and hopefully I passed on some of that knowledge to the younger generation.”
Reflecting on his farewell at the Fire Station, Taylor said it was “very humbling to see the turnout.”
“It’s a little weird,” he added. “Punching out for the last time of your job, doing the radio report and signing off for the last time — it’s going to be a bit of an adjustment. I’ll miss being at the coffee table with the guys, stuff like that, but I know that the door will always be open, so we’ll be going back for coffee.”
Anthony Cammalleri can be reached at acammalleri@recorder.com or 413-930-4429.
