Trailblazing NH Firefighters Hang Up Their Helmets

Feb. 12—DOVER, NH — Longtime Dover paramedic and firefighter engineer Jennifer Myers said she often thinks back to the lives she was able to save rather than the ones that she could not.

In June 2013, a three-alarm fire was reported in the four-unit building on Cushing Street. A 16-year-old girl called 911 around 2:19 a.m. and reported she was home alone and trapped on the second floor of the burning apartment building.

"I was working that night," Myers recalled. "I drove the engine out of the South End station and quickly arrived on the scene, seeing her house engulfed in flames. That call will stay with me forever because we were able to get her out safely. I still keep in touch with her to this day, and check on her on the anniversary of the fire."

Myers said that while there are many calls that stick with her, for better or for worse, it has taught her a valuable lesson.

"I do think that the more that we see, the more compassionate and empathetic we become," Myers said. "This job takes a lot from you, emotionally, but it is worth it."

For Beth Mason, a longtime Dover firefighter engineer, that indelible moment was one of her "first-in" (first to respond) fires she fought, a fire that broke out in the old Tuttle Square apartment building at the corner of Central Avenue and Silver Street in Dover.

"This fire was a big deal to me because I worked alongside all the guys that trained me," Mason said. "All of the training put in and the trust built within my shift lead to that moment. It makes you want to be the best, not just for yourself but for the people that you work with."

Myers and Mason both joined the Dover Fire & Rescue Department Nov. 28, 2004.

Myers found herself on the paramedic and firefighter engineer career path because she thought it would lead to her one day becoming a nurse. Instead, she found her calling was at the fire department, she said. She became heavily involved with Dover Professional Firefighters, spending many years on its executive board and once held the position of President, and later served as secretary and treasurer for the Professional Fire Fighters of New Hampshire.

Mason, on the other hand, was drawn toward this career after meeting an assistant chief at the New London Fire Department, who suggested she should apply. She got the job and quickly developed a passion for it. She joined the Fire Academy to make a career out of it, and at the time was the only female to pass the state certification test. After learning the ropes, she became a firefighter engineer.

Both women have retired in the last month, each after close to 17 years with the Dover department in their more than two-decade careers.

Myers and Mason were not the first women in the department, but they were the only women there for most of their careers. Dover Fire Chief Paul Haas said their longtime dedication to the department was apparent and will be missed.

"When they both started, they were the only women in the organization," Haas said.

"If they were nervous about fitting in, or about proving themselves to me and other members of the department, it certainly did not show."

When entering their firefighting careers, Myers and Mason knew the percentage of female firefighters in the region and state was small, but neither let it discourage them from pursuing it.

"They've laid the path for more women to follow in their footsteps," Haas said, noting that both women rose above every challenge and became leaders.

In the last few years, two more women firefighters were brought on.

"The Seacoast area departments have hired some amazing women to their departments, but we definitely still need to encourage the younger females coming up that it's no longer just a man's job," Myers said.

Mason pointed out that regardless of rank or gender "every person plays an intricate part of the team."

"Just because you might be an officer or an engineer that doesn't make you the best or most knowledgeable person for any job," Mason said. "Part of being the senior is recognizing people's strengths and weaknesses, and helping people get through those weaknesses, just like how people helped you through yours."

There are 52 Dover firefighters in total, with groups of 13 working one of four shifts around the clock.

"Some days it's just routine calls, days where you're out there helping people who are having the worst day of their life," Myers said. "Other days it may be responding to calls during a snowstorm where you're dealing with nothing but car accidents and down trees or structure fires. Every day is different but every day you you go to work prepared to do whatever is thrown your way."

There is a lot of behind the scenes work that happens at the station, too, Mason explained. From shared station household chores to community outreach and continued training and education they must undergo, the firefighters keep busy in between calls.

"There's a lot of paperwork and reports to write, very much like a lot of other professions, you have deadlines to get things done," Mason said. "And it's just that we all have to, at the end of the day when those tones go off, we all get in that rig, and we do our jobs."

Myers and Mason were heavily involved in the training of other firefighters throughout the years in their tenure, passing on the skills and lessons once taught to them.

Of all the aspects of the profession, both women say the thing they will miss most is the camaraderie bond they've formed with their fellow firefighters.

"When your dog-tired from running all night long, it was nice to sit around the table together. We'd talk about calls and just relax," Mason said.

In their retirement, the two women are heading in new directions.

Mason is spending more time with her husband and two children, ages 12 and six months.

"It's really a unique career — one that I'm very honored to have had." Mason said.

Myers is now working at the Dover Police Department as a dispatcher for the police and fire departments, a position she says allows her to stay connected to her roots within the fire department.

"You know, there's nothing about my career that I would change," Myers said. "I know that I have 52 brothers and sisters, and just because my career there ended, it doesn't mean that the brotherhood between us all has."

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