By Dennis Yusko
The Times Union (Albany, New York)
Copyright 2006 The Hearst Corporation
All Rights Reserved
CLIFTON PARK, N.Y. — Louis Pasquarell Sr. has volunteered at the Jonesville Fire Department for 70 years. Seventy years. That’s “seven-zero.” That’s pre-World War II. That’s since 1936.
Pasquarell, 90, has accompanied more than 2,500 fire calls, jumping aboard 296 in one year alone. In his seven decades of service, he has extinguished fires, responded to medical emergencies, pumped flooded cellars, climbed trees to remove adventurous cats, and once even removed a horse from mud.
He turns 91 on Sept. 8, and although he no longer joins fire drills, he’s still an active and ambitious member of the department, which he says keeps him involved in the community.
“You help everybody out,” said Pasquarell of Kinns Road.
Pasquarell has lived in Clifton Park since 1932. Every five years or so, the town and others recognize him for his record of service. He received the town key in the past.
In 1996, on his 60th anniversary of being a volunteer firefighter, U.S. Congressman Gerald Solomon called Pasquarell “a giant among men” on the floor of Congress.
This year, at a recent Town Board meeting, town officials presented him with a special service award.
“He embodies the best of the volunteer fire service. His dedication to both the Jonesville Fire Department and Clifton Park represents an example that so many of us can follow,” Chief Dennis Weaver said.
Pasquarell was born in Halfmoon and educated in Mechanicville. When he joined the department, it had about 20 volunteer firefighters and a little truck with a 500-gallon water tank on it.
“There was nothing else to do, and I wanted to help in my community. There were just a few houses, mostly all farmers,” Pasquarell said.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt was serving his first of four terms as president. There were no fire hydrants and not everyone had indoor plumbing. Firefighters didn’t wear protective gear other than a helmet, and used to carry their own tools to fires, Pasquarell said.
When the 500-gallon truck ran out of water, “We had a bucket brigade.” The firefighters would pass buckets of water up ladders to put fires out, he said.
Pasquarell still covets his first firefighter hard hat from 1936, a metal cap that says “Hose 1 JFD.” “They’re all plastic now,” he said.
He drove to a recent interview at the firehouse in his blue Chevy Impala. He wore his uniform and New Balance sneakers.
Pasquarell is an Army veteran of World War II. None of his six siblings survive. He had two children with his wife, Agnes, who lives with him on Kinns Road.
His son, also a longtime member of the fire department, said his dad remains active for the company.
“They call it special services. Whenever the chief assigns him a project, he works on it,” Louis Pasquarell Jr. said.
The senior Pasquarell also serves on the department’s board of directors.
He is perhaps best known around town for creating a miniature fire truck out of a tractor. The red vehicle rides in town parades and community events. Pasquarell built it over three months after his 8-year-old grandson asked for his own fire truck.
The department now keeps the truck and has dedicated it to Lou Sr. It has a loud siren, a bell on the front, small hatchets and axes on its side and a folded hose in the back. Pasquarell, who Solomon credited for helping to acquire Saratoga County’s first fire truck, said the little vehicle can reach 15 mph.
Pasquarell retired from the Plumber and Steamfitters Union Local 7 in Albany in 1976 after 24 years. He also operated a welding shop and garage in Elnora for many years. He stopped woodcarving, his favorite hobby, last year due to arthritis in his hands.
The volunteer said he hopes to continue through his 75th year of service with Jonesville.
“I made a lot of friends,” Pasquarell said.