Hyannis MA Firefighters Gather To Bid Farewell To Old Fire Station

Sept. 25 -- HYANNIS, MA -- The long-awaited modern and spacious new Hyannis fire station is nearing completion, but the well-worn, cramped building next door is where everybody wanted to be Monday night.

Nearly 100 past and present firefighters gathered for a ceremonial "last supper" of barbecue fare to bid farewell to the 53-year-old fire station where many of them had spent decades working.

"People grew up in this fire station," said Hyannis Fire Chief Peter Burke. "This was their home, where they lived, ate, slept and worked hard. There's a lot of nostalgia and it's important we acknowledge those who worked here."

John McHugh, 90, was one of only two full-time firefighters who made the move from the former station on Barnstable Road into the current facility when it opened in 1965. He retired as deputy chief in 1989.

While he enjoyed an evening of reminiscing with former colleagues in the station's apparatus bay, which had been retrofitted into a banquet hall for the event, McHugh admitted the new building next door was "beautiful and needed."

Dr. Charles Pozner is an emergency physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston and an associate professor at Harvard Medical School. But from 1982 to 1985 he was a firefighter and medic for the Hyannis Fire Department.

Pozner left a speaking engagement in Manhattan early on Monday to get to Hyannis in time for the event.

"I would not have missed it," he said. "This brings back a lot of memories."

The Farrenkopf family has particularly strong ties to the fire station.

Eric Farrenkopf retired last summer after nearly 46 years in the department, reaching the rank of captain. His late father, Richard, served as chief of the department until 1990.

"I spent more than half of my life here," said Farrenkopf. "I'm not looking forward to it being torn down."

Former Hyannis Fire Chief Harold Brunelle, who retired nearly two years ago after 44 years working at the station, told attendees they should be celebrating the thousands of lives they saved while working there.

"It's a bittersweet time," he said. "This building meant so much to us."

A new kitchen table for the new fire station arrived Monday, and was on display at Monday's event.

The 14-foot table, constructed and donated by All Cape Welding, features a very special component.

A concrete pin salvaged from the wreckage of the World Trade Center was donated by Capt. Thomas Kenney who, along with two other department members, were first responders at Ground Zero in New York City on Sept. 11, 2001.

"I found it in the rubble, and it came home in my tool bag," said Kenney.

After 37 years with the Hyannis Fire Department, Kenney retires next month.

"There's sadness," said Kenney about the building, which is scheduled for demolition later this year. "There's tremendous memories and history here."

Although Monday's event was intended to be the last meal in the old station, the move to the new station is now slated for mid-October, according to Burke and Peter Cross, chairman of the Hyannis Fire District Board of Commissioners.

Not all of the firefighters at Monday's farewell had decades of memories to reminisce about but they understood the history around them.

Nikolas Omerzu, 24, started his career as a firefighter/paramedic with the department just two weeks ago.

"This is where a lot of them started and finished their careers," he said about the men and women who gathered Monday. "It's a big deal. There are a lot of stories in this room."

Will Omerzu be the one meeting up with old colleagues and feeling nostalgic when the new station is retired decades from now?

"I hope so," he said. "That's the plan."