Firefighting family has long tradition in Eliot

Eliot, Maine, families love their town. They fight for it – fire fight, that is. It’s part of the town’s rich history since the Fire Department was formed in 1914.

One of those townspeople, Walter Hoyt, was born in Eliot in 1927 and was a volunteer firefighter for more than 40 years and chief for nearly 20. Joanne Hoyt was his little girl.

"The day I was born, my father took my mother to Portsmouth Hospital, dropped her off and went back to work as a firefighter at the naval shipyard," Joanne recalls being told by her parents. "So I’ve been in the Fire Department for 66 years." That includes being married to Jay Muzeroll, who came to the department at 19 when Joanne's father was chief. Now that title belongs to him.

Chief Muzeroll joined the department in 1973, giving him 46 years of service to date. But he is not done yet and neither is the department's family tradition.

"The traditional call volunteer firefighter department is all family," he said, standing in the fire station on Main Street. "The route of everything that goes on in these older communities was started by our forefathers and is probably the only civic organization that doesn’t get a lot of push-back by being filled with family. If it wasn’t for family over the years there would not be a Fire Department."

That tradition continues with Muzeroll’s daughters, Heather and Amanda, who are both married to firefighters – Jimmie Roy and Eric Ouellette, who joined in 1983 and 1997, respectively. Roy works for the town and Ouellette is a firefighter at the shipyard, which was Muzeroll’s job for more than 30 years.

That’s not the end of the lineage.

Muzeroll’s granddaughter, Josie Ouellette, 19, is currently a probie (on probation, a rookie). Her other job is working as a teaching assistant at Eyes of the World Discover Center in Kittery. "I teach 3-year-olds. The education is outdoor-based. Just last Friday it was raining and we were out there rolling around in the mud, making mud pies and getting our hands dirty. It’s something I really like to do."

Josie remembers being drawn to the Fire Department at an early age. "Ever since I was little, hearing the fire alarm go off ... was like ‘Oh is my dad going to go save someone or go put a fire out?’ Watching him go down stairs, put his bunker gear on and seeing him drive the fire truck past the house and I would wave; it got me excited. When I felt I was ready, I asked my grandfather and he agreed, and now I’m a probie."

As far as working with his granddaughter, Muzeroll said, "The first thing I told Josie is that I’m the fire chief. I’m not your grandfather when that fire alarm goes off."

As far as being a woman in a largely male department, "I’ve grown up knowing the ropes and now I can say I’m just one of the guys here," Josie said. "You don’t have to treat me differently."

"You can’t survive if you still have that attitude of 50 years ago where it’s not a place for women," Muzeroll said. "It’s multicultural, multifaceted. If you can meet the requirements and you’re willing to make the commitment, I don’t care what you look like. It doesn’t matter to me. Now I have three young ladies in the department and since we are really short-handed we’d like to use them as a recruitment tool, hoping they will tell their friends and hopefully they will want to get involved."

The job has myriad challenges, including erratic hours and being pulled out of bed in the middle of the night.

"It’s neighbors helping neighbors," Eric Ouellette said. "They are calling because it’s sometimes their last hope after trying to figure out the problem. Every time the alarm rings, it’s someone’s emergency. It may just end up being a minor service call for a beeping battery, but to somebody at 2 o’clock in the morning they felt the need to call us."

"The wives are the ones who suffer from the lack of sleep," he added. "We wouldn’t be where we are without the support of these ladies."

Joanne, Heather and Amanda agree the toughest part of those middle-of-the-night calls is when their husbands return; they want to talk and unwind. They didn’t know all the while they were gone their wives were listening to scanners and couldn’t go back to sleep until their husbands were home safe.

The job is dangerous.

Capt. Joel Barnes of the Berwick Fire Department lost his life fighting a 4-alarm blaze March 1 that drew firefighters from around the region.

"Dealing with trauma and loss can be tough," Muzeroll said. "Everyone deals with it differently. It's also hard on the whole family, not just the firefighters involved."

Asked if he wanted that life for his daughter Josie, Eric Ouellette said, "I didn’t push her that way. It was something she wanted to try and that’s the way I roll. I’m behind her 100 percent."

Jimmie Roy added, "It’s part of the job and hopefully it never happens again. We all stick together. We talk and we don’t even know we’re talking about it but we’re getting it out without even knowing we are getting it out. At least that’s how I feel. The good times outweigh the bad times and hopefully it equals out."

Muzeroll said firefighters over the last decade have come to recognize the symptoms of people having trouble and are more open about it.

"Whether it’s a group discussion or a private discussion," he said. "It’s part of being a family and that’s what all the fire guys and girls are. The families of this community are what keep this fire station going, but the problem we have is some families are moving away because they can’t afford to live here. So we get a little more economic diversity, a little bit less family but other communities are going through the same thing."

Muzeroll said if people are interested in joining the firefighting service they should reach out to their local towns.

"We all have websites that can walk you through the process in what steps to take," he said. "We all are short-handed and could use the interest."

As to why someone should consider joining, Jimmie Roy says "it’s fun, rewarding and it feels good to help people in the community."

Listening to the conversation is Josie’s sister, Lila, 8, leaning against a pole at the station. When asked what she thinks about all the firefighters in her family, she replies shyly, "I don’t know. When I grow up I want to own a Dunkin’ Donuts."