When Taylor Belsito joined the Allenstown Fire Department department two years ago as a part-time firefighter, she knew no one in town. In a short time, the department has become her new family.

“I go home and I’m still talking to these guys 24/7,” she said. “Or they’re at home and I’m on shift, and they’re still talking to me 24/7 or they’re coming down here.”

“There are people here that I call ‘Dad,’” Belsito added with a laugh.

One of several women on the staff, she works on a per-diem basis and signs up for shifts as they fit into her schedule. While on call at the fire station, Belsito often settles at the upstairs kitchen table with her laptop to work on grant applications for the department. This is her specialty.

Belsito sees the potential of each firefighter to contribute not only to the department but the town as a whole. Rural firefighters often have fewer resources, financially and otherwise, compared to cities like Concord and Manchester. But for those on the Allenstown staff, this contributes to the communal feel of the department and the home-grown efforts to serve the community.

“We have plumbers, we have electricians, we have mechanics, we have welders, we have people who know agriculture and masonry, we have heavy equipment operators,"  she said. “It’s all these things that actually end up not just benefiting us substantially, but making us different from the rest.”

With a staff of 36, many of whom are part-time firefighters, the town’s fire department prides itself on now being able to provide 24/7 fire and emergency medical coverage to the Allenstown community, a shift that occurred in July after the town separated from the tri-town ambulance service. All the first responders at the department have both fire and emergency medical services training. They work in pairs of two over 24-hour shifts and respond to emergencies in town or as far away as Manchester for mutual aid calls.

In part thanks to Belsito’s grant-writing, the department acquired a new ladder truck in November, allowing for easier access to taller buildings in town. Another recent grant will allow the department to buy a machine to wash and dry their gear.

Chief Eric Lambert, who has worked in Allenstown in different capacities for over three decades, finds that the “jack of all trades” perception of fire departments rings true to the work they do.

“You have to figure out things other people can’t sometimes,” he said. “So that’s why they call the fire department, it’s one-stop answers. If we can’t figure it out, we can probably find somebody who can. So that’s a nationwide thing. That’s who we are.”

Recognizing risks

When a bell goes off inside the Allenstown Fire Station, Belsito and her fellow firefighters have 90 seconds to step into their boots, hoist up their thick, fire-resistant suits, put their helmets on, grab any necessary equipment, and make it onto the truck, ready to roll.

They have to be prepared to jump into any situation – fire or medical – and remain calm, level-headed and responsive. Each member of the team has participated in extensive training to assess emergencies and make informed, split-second decisions.

“We make the extraordinary ordinary,” full-time firefighter Ben Savage said. “Whereas other people are saying, ‘Oh my god, someone’s house is on fire,’ I’m saying, ‘Oh my god, that house is on fire. Here’s where it’s on fire, and here’s where I’m going to go try and put it out.’”

The Allenstown fire trucks carry around 750 gallons of water. While this sounds like a lot, the water supply can become depleted within a span of minutes, leaving firefighters to figure out what to do next. Sometimes, this means tapping into a local source of water, such as a pond or river.

Even as prepared as these first responders are, they cannot plan for the unknown. With that comes an element of danger, especially with fires involved. Savage said he tackles danger “very carefully and one step at a time.”

Belsito, Savage and their colleagues in other departmentssee difficult situations on a regular basis. Stress teams help first responders deal with the impacts of what they encounter when they rush to emergencies. The Allenstown staff makes an effort to lean on each other when necessary.

“It used to be back in the day when you had a bad call, you came back, you cleaned up the station, you went home and drank vodka. We’re trying to change that stigma,” Savage said. “If I can change anything, it’s that it’s okay to talk about it. It’s okay to say, ‘Hey, that call messed me up. That was a bad call.’ Luckily, we’re surrounded by a lot of providers who can do that.”

An increasing number of firefighters die from suicide as a result of mental health issues stemming from on-the-job experiences, according to the U.S. Fire Administration.

“I don’t think about the danger because we’re trained for the danger, but we are statistically more likely to get certain types of cancer, certain type of traumatic stress, certain types of cumulative exposure,” Savage added.

Like Savage, Lambert recognizes the difficulties of his chosen profession but appreciates the opportunity to serve his community throughout his career.

“It’s not an easy job,” Lambert said. “You go and do things that most people don’t want to do. Being able to have that time to sit down and to share those meals together as a department and build bonds, people can work together and they’re strong. It helps them get through those tough times when you have tough calls.”

Small town support

Three-quarters of the calls the department receives fall into the medical category, whereas the other quarter tends to be fire-related or other emergencies, according to Lambert. By the end of this year, the department expects to have received between 1,000 and 1,100 total calls. In 2021, they had around 700 calls. Lambert attributes the increase to the emergency medical services now offered in town and the aging population of the area.

To keep serving the community to the best of its ability, the department sometimes has to get creative about where it finds funding and resources.

“We’re a small town. Small towns don’t have big money to buy big things,” said Lambert, who crowd-sourced and spearheaded a series of renovations to the top floor of the fire station.

Community support helps the fire department serve those around them, Savage and Belsito said. 

“Just being in a small town community, you would think that there is a little bit of side-eye sometimes when you have an outsider that comes into your homes and you don’t really directly know them,” Belsito said. “That’s not the case. I already know a good chunk of a lot of people that make up this community, and it still gives me like that back home, small-town feel.”

The sense of community not only in Allenstown but within the department itself, allows firefighters to show up for their job and find fulfillment beyond a profession. Just as the department functions as a family, so does the station serve as not just a house but a home for those who work there. The walls display badges from fire departments across the country and archival photos of Allenstown. On the newly-renovated second floor, there’s a kitchen, a lounge, and bedrooms for the service members on call.

“If we don’t have the sense of community and this sense of camaraderie, then it’s just people showing up to do a job. And what you’re seeing around the country is a lot of that is driving people to not be there,” Lambert said.

Instead, the connections his staff build – from everyday interactions and department projects to group meals and shared holidays – leave them revitalized in their sense of purpose and togetherness.

“It’s a lot harder than working in a bigger community where you can have one job,” Lambert said. “In a small town, we have to be the master of all.”
 

Rachel Wachman can be reached at rwachman@cmonitor.com