By Katie Beth Ryan
The Valley News
CORNISH, Vt. — Cornish Fire Chief Nate Cass didn’t need to be reminded of the significance of honoring a volunteer firefighter for 50 years of active service.
“It’s a very unusual occasion,” Cass said yesterday afternoon, before paying tribute to the service that Leland Atwood has given to the Cornish Volunteer Fire Department at the station in Cornish Flat.
Atwood was honored alongside other members of the fire squad who were celebrating their 10th, 15th, 20th and 25th anniversaries with the department.
Getting to 50 years, however, is no small achievement — Cass believes it’s the first for a volunteer firefighter from Cornish — especially considering the middle-of-the-night phone calls, often sub-freezing temperatures and the burning structures that an unpaid firefighter must often encounter.
“I’m proud to be able to give this to you, Leland,” Cass said, presenting Atwood with a wooden plaque and a proclamation from Gov. John Lynch, to the applause and standing ovation from those gathered at the firehouse.
In Cornish, the Atwood name is practically synonymous with fire safety: Ellsworth Atwood played a large role in the founding of the Cornish Volunteer Fire Department in 1943. Leland Atwood joined the department at 19, a year after graduating from Stevens High School in Claremont.
“I just kind of grew up in it. When I was old enough to join, I joined,” he said.
None of the other active members of the squad were on duty when Atwood first suited up, but there’s no doubt in their minds that he’s as sprightly as he was 50 years ago.
Chief Cass recalled a fire on Harrington Hill Road earlier this year in which two younger members of the department struggled to keep up with Atwood’s prowess as he led them in extinguishing the blaze.
“Keeping up with this man is just about impossible,” said Cass.
“He’s just one of the guys,” said Leo Maslan, recognized yesterday for his own 25 years of service to the department. “He knows his job and he does it ... Two o’clock in the morning, 10 below zero, he’ll be there.”
Since Leland Atwood joined the Cornish Volunteer Fire Department, it has grown from a squad with just one engine and tanker, and just one firehouse, to a department with five vehicles and a second fire station in Cornish Flat, completed just a few years ago.
One area in which the department would like to see more growth is in the number of volunteers willing to take on an unpaid but very necessary job.
“It’s very difficult to keep members and keep them active,” Cass acknowledged. That’s partly due to the nature of the work involved in firefighting, but can also be attributed to fewer young people sticking around town after they graduate from high school, unlike in previous generations.
Some other volunteer fire departments have resorted to “paid call,” compensating firefighters only for the hours they put in for the department. Cornish, however, remains staffed entirely with volunteers, many of whom balance full-time jobs with their work for the department.
Before retiring from the squad in 2009 after 40 years, Dale Rook juggled his volunteer duties with a full-time job as a fire safety officer at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and raising four children.
“It was difficult,” Rook said, “but it’s a sacrifice that a lot of people make.”
For now, the department continues with a crew of 23 active firefighters, and Atwood has no intention of abandoning the ranks.
“You don’t enjoy going to someone’s house for a fire,” Atwood said, “but you enjoy the work.”
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