By Emma Bouthillette
The Portland Press Herald
BUXTON, Maine — “We’re a close-knit group,” Bob O’Donnell said, looking around at about 30 retired Portland firefighters.
“There’s nothing like being in a fire station. You spend more time with these guys than with your family at home.”
O’Donnell, a retired district fire chief, reminisced about his time in the department during a Portland Fire Department reunion of retired firefighters Sunday.
The annual reunion, now in its seventh year, is hosted by John “Smokey” Chandler and his wife, Dianne, at their home. The event, by invitation only, has been known to draw upwards of 100 people in past years.
“Everybody has a great time,” Chandler said of the reunion’s relaxed atmosphere, with folks coming and going as they please.
After meeting up with fellow retired firefighters in Florida, an idea was born to organize reunions in Maine, Chandler said. When no one took the lead, he got the ball rolling. He hopes to hold the annual reunion as long as he is able.
As Gary Lanoutte walks up the driveway, Chandler gives him a sturdy handshake, a hug and a pat on the back.
“How you doing?” Chandler asks, as they walk toward the rest of the group gathered in the garage.
Lanoutte retired from the Portland Fire Department’s fire boat in 1990 after 23 years of service. “This is fun to get to see folks I haven’t seen in years,” he said.
Lanoutte said he was “just a kid” when he joined the force and trained under some of the men attending the reunion.
One of them was Lew Smith, who retired from the department in the mid-1970s after 22 years of service.
“It’s a unique position,” Smith said of being a firefighter. “Most of us depended on each other for our safety.”
Smith, joking with Jim Hughes, who was a dispatcher for the department, said Hughes was the only one the firefighters always listened to.
“I was probably the only guy in the department who could tell everybody where to go, and no one could say anything about it,” Hughes said.
Joking aside, Smith said the group shared a lot of memories of really bad fires during their times on the department. In the 1950s through the 1970s, the equipment they used was not as advanced as today’s technology and because fire detectors and sprinklers were less prevalent, there were more large fires to fight.
“We remember all of (the fires). You never forget the fire, never forget the people you lost, especially little kids,” Smith said. “Of course, you remember the people you save, too.”
Between enjoying each other’s company and the spread of food, Chandler invited people to check out his museum of fire memorabilia in his basement.
“I always dreamed of being a firefighter,” Chandler said, having started as a junior volunteer in 1958.
Aside from his 33 years with the Portland Fire Department, Chandler has spent four decades collecting anything fire-related, from old helmets, uniforms and badges to posters, video footage of fires and newspaper clippings. The most recent addition to the museum is a replica of a Model-T fire truck that Chandler built from the ground up with help from his son-in-law and friends, which was displayed on the front lawn.
Downstairs, Joan Macisso and her husband, Marty, admired the collection.
“Isn’t that cute?” Joan Macisso said, pointing to a child-sized doll dressed in firefighter garb, posed sliding halfway down a miniature fire pole.
After perusing the museum’s artifacts, the couple flipped through albums of old newspaper articles Chandler had carefully clipped and saved over the years. The articles prompted many more memories to be shared amongst the retired firefighters.
“I just love the fact they come (to the reunion),” Chandler said. “It’s heartwarming to see them all here.”
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