Like Father, Like Son: Lennon Firefighting Legacy Continues
David Lennon Sr. had to wait until until father, David T. Lennon, retired before there was room to join the Alerts. Nowadays, there's room for plenty of Lennons.
That's a little much, even Assistant Chief David Lennon Jr. admits.
"Technically he is not a junior," he said about his son. "I am a junior but he has a different middle name. But to everyone down here he is 'Junior.'"
The Adams Fire Department recently welcomed its fourth David Lennon, continuing a family legacy that stretches back over half a century.
"It is a shared sense of purpose," said David Jr. "I'm obviously proud of him ... To be honest with you, I think he's doing better than I was back then."
Young David Lennon was elected to the company in January, but he started his apprenticeship in 2023.
The job has always been pretty familiar to him, the 23-year-old said.
"I was always around it as a kid. I would go to calls, just like my father did," he said. "… I have seen what a fire scene looks like, so I have that in my arsenal."
His grandfather David Lennon Sr. nodded, remembering trying on his own father's firefighting gear and running out to calls as a young boy.
"I can remember one time when I was in a shoe store in town and the whistle went off. I was with him, so he took me with him," he said. "Fires were reported through box alarms. Compressed air would blow a horn. It was loud. You could hear it all around town."
And like his grandfather and father who both fondly recalled memories of growing up with a firefighter parent, young David was ready to join as soon as possible. Legally he could have started at the age of 18, but his father said it was important to the family that his son finish college first.
"He wanted to sign up earlier, but I wanted him to devote his attention to getting his schooling done, which he did," David Jr. said. "And as soon as he was done, he started coming down. As I had expected, he's kind of all in. If there's training, he's at it. He spends a lot of time and takes it seriously. So, I think that was the right call."
On paper, the three living David Lennons would appear to be the same man. If you didn't see them in person you would wonder if they were clones. All three are firefighters; all three are teachers.
"So, not only do we do this, all of us are also teachers," David Jr. said. "I've grown up with getting phone calls from parents: 'You, Mr. Lennon, the teacher, right?' And then we start talking and they say, 'Oh, no. I'm looking for your father, Mr. Lennon.'"
Young David's life arc uncannily has followed his father's, who recently admitted experiencing a strong sense of deja vu.
David Jr., like his son, joined the department after college. He came back to Adams, started a family, settled into a job, built a house. But once rooted, he needed something to focus on to further his stake in his community.
"It was not only something I was interested in but was also a way to kind of get back involved with other people," he said. "... It was a good few early years. I don't know how many roofs we put on each other's homes. There was a lot of camaraderie ... everyone went to everyone else's kids' birthday parties and picnics. If there was a big job we all rallied. It was like a big family."
Flashforward a handful of years, young David finishes college and decides to move back home. He joins the Adams Alerts, and gets a teaching job at the same school as his father (Nessacus Regional Middle School in Dalton), and is engaged.
"He's a civics teacher ... he's a town meeting member, and he is starting to get involved," David Jr. said. "He is putting roots down and is starting to become part of the community, which I think is good because it is rare nowadays."
David Jr. revels in the new bonds he has created with his son.
"It doesn't matter if it's tools or firefighting. We kind of have a lot of shared interests. Now, it's the same thing with teaching," he said. "So, yeah, it's different because I have a son but also a coworker."
David Sr. said he was proud when his grandson announced that he was signing up. He also recalled when his own son told him he was joining.
"I was glad he did. My father did it, and I did it. My brother did it," he said. "I am amazed how many years he has got in it."
David Jr., who has 27 years with the Alerts, refreshed his dad's memory.
"Yeah, when I first brought it up to you, though, you weren't exactly ecstatic," he laughed. "You were a little nervous about it."
"Yeah well you always are," his father responded. "It is dangerous."
David Jr. felt the same way about the danger, but since he knew his son was going to join anyway, he was glad to be around to keep an eye on him.
David Jr. and his son have been on calls together. David Jr., reflecting on the inherent danger of firefighting, said it is important to compartmentalize as much as possible and handle the job that is in front of you.
"You have a job to do. He is focused on what he is doing, and I have to focus on what I am doing," he said. "Of course I will look up and take note to see where he is and what's going on."
Three David Lennons had never served in the department simultaneously until now. The first David Lennon was a member of the Alert Hose Co. for 34 years and had been the town's building and zoning inspector, a post his father, another David, had held. He died shortly after retiring in 1976.
David Sr. started that year as his father had retired so he could join. Back then, there was a long waiting list of people wanting to become firefighters. One had to leave for another to join.
"There were like seven or eight of us that had been trying to join," David Sr. said, looking up at the wall of portraits in the firehouse's lounge. "You train and go to fires, but you're not officially a firefighter. You had no equipment or nothing, but you had to go to show you cared. I got in with three other guys."
He said the portraits on the wall are of firefighters who were still active with the department when they died. David Sr. knew all of them.
Nowadays volunteer departments across the country struggle to fill their ranks. Adams is no exception. David Jr. would give anything for even a short waitlist.
David Jr. said the department's membership is on the older side, noting that many of the names on the roster either started with him or before him. He was happy to say his son had recruited a few of his friends in their 20s, that slightly lowered the department's age profile.
Generally, it is hard to find anyone interested in joining the department, and often when they find someone interested, they don't always last.
"We are at a crossroads, just trying to get capable people that have the time to spend, that have the desire to put that time in, that can then use that to do something repeatedly over and over and over for an extended period of time," he said. "We get people through the door and they come and they go. Or people that are well intentioned, but they really don't have the capabilities."
Looking at his son who played football at Hoosac Valley, David Jr. said it takes a very specific skill set to thrive as a firefighter. He said athletes tend to do well, adding that "controlled aggression" is an important skill. Coupling that with a knowledge of various tools, they have an optimal recruit on hand.
Young David chimed in and said he was surprised how much athletics have helped him through the training. He said when all geared up he is lugging around an extra 100 or so pounds.
His father added that the gear is even heavier when it gets wet, and it will get wet.
"I played sports all through high school, I am relatively fit, although I'm kind of letting myself go now," young David laughed. "But I didn't realize how much of a full body workout this would be. I remember after one of my first experiences my forearms were completely just shot. I remember getting used to the bulky gear, having no dexterity with gloves on. It looks easy when you see it on TV, but getting in the gear and actually doing it in a stressful environment is different."
The Lennons are unequivocally a firefighting family, so discussions on positive pressure ventilation and situational uses of various hose lines are topics heard at the dinner table.
"The significant others just walk away," David Jr. laughed.
But David Sr. is always all ears.
"We still talk about the fires. Me being retired, I try to talk with them about it whenever I can," he said. "I am always interested."
"If you ask a firefighter one story you get 12," David, Jr., added with a laugh.
More seriously, David Jr. said there is a need to keep firefighting separate as firefighters often see things they don't want to bring home with them.
But it is important to decompress, something much easier to do now that his son has joined the ranks.
"The stuff you see, and the stuff you witness all has its own weight with that. I think we have to talk about it," he said. "I have somebody that understands now. We can offload. I have other friends in the department and we do that and now he has joined that group. It is important to talk about what went right, the things you saw, and how to cope. There is certainly a lot of stuff I don't go home and tell my wife. I never used to tell him. But now he is involved so it is coming from a different place."
Young David said his first call, a lift assist, wasn't very glamorous but since then he has gone to more severe calls that have opened up his eyes — making the job seem more real and heavier.
"One of the better feelings that you get is accomplishing something. You go on social media and you get all the thank yous," he said. "Or, better yet, you go to a fire scene and you get neighbors bringing out water, snacks, or whatever to help out in a way. That's one of the more rewarding aspects of it."
Young David loves the training and his father said he puts in the extra time to improve. He never misses the regular Tuesday training and often leads a small group through an extra training session on Fridays. When he isn't watching fire training videos online, he is researching tools and gear he will likely purchase with his own money.
"There was a reason I didn't let him join when he was in college because when he is all in he is all in," David Jr. said. "If he is not at the house I know exactly where he's going to be."
His son's enthusiasm has inspired him to improve and do more field training again, noting that life and his more administrative duties have drawn him away from some of the more hands-on work over the years.
"I have a grandchild now so the amount of things pulling at you and the amount of calls is way higher," David Jr. said. "But when he got in, it sort of pulled me back in a little bit so I have been a little bit more involved again."
But with some limitations.
"I'm finding out that I can't do a lot of stuff I used to be able to," he laughed. "We went to a training in Cheshire ... and a lot of that was really physically hard stuff, and it took me weeks to recuperate from that, I think I had a bruised rib from that. It has caught up."
Even though many of these training sessions are physically tolling, David Jr. said they are incredibly important. He did note it is broadly challenging to administer training, basically simulations, knowing that nothing can prepare a firefighter for the real thing.
"We're not super rural. We're busy, but we don't have a big fire every day, and this is the type of thing that you have to learn by going to those," he said. "... It's overwhelming when you go for the first time. Some people, who have been training for months, go to their first big one and their eyes get big and they say 'oh my goodness.' Your plans go right out the window and you have to be able to adapt and read the situation."
David Sr. recalled learning primarily through experience, saying that today's firefighter training is vastly different. He stressed that firefighting has changed significantly since his time."
"It is totally different now. The trucks were smaller, the station was on Park Street — believe it or not they fit three trucks in there. That was just part of growing up: my father running down there, pulling on his boots. It was like fishing boots and a rubber raincoat. That is just what they had."
David Jr. added that there were no breathing apparatus back in those days.
"You just went in until you couldn't take it anymore," he said.
Young David added that they still use some of the more antiquated gear and much of the new gear is just improved versions of what his grandfather probably used, but ever changing regulations, inspections, and certifications are new, as is the mountains of paperwork involved, his father added.
"We still have a lot of the same tools. We had air packs, but they weren't inspected or certified. Everything has all this legal stuff that you have to do now," he said. "All in case something happens. It is good to have this process but it all costs money and it takes time. None of that is the fun stuff you reminisce about."
Most of it is worth reminiscing about, and both grandfather and son have gained a lot from their time as firefighters.
"Learning how to work together with people in extreme circumstances. Being helpful. It's like a team approach," David Sr. said. "That is why you do it, you want to belong. You want to help your community and go out there and do your share."
"I think everybody in their life has trials and tribulations ... and being able to take what we've had to deal with here and be able to keep things separate, I think helps," David Jr. said.
The senior Lennons hope young David will gain as much from the department as they did. He, in turn, sees his firefighting career mirroring his father's and expects to be with the department for the long haul.
And even with difficulties with funding and recruitment, his father hopes and believes that is possible."
"Hopefully there is still a place for a volunteer fire department in the future because I think it is beneficial for the community and beneficial for the people involved in it," he said. "I know I have gotten a lot out of it and the friendships and the connections in it are a real good thing."
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