The Harvard Historical Society will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Harvard Fire Department with a program titled “Firefighting, Past and Present,” Thursday, Sept. 15, at 7 p.m. at the meetinghouse, 215 Still River Road.
The program will feature a film created by Harvard resident producer and filmmaker Robert Curran, who will then moderate a panel discussion among officers of the department, inviting them to tell stories of their experiences. Reserve Engine 1 (and “Antiquey,” weather permitting) will be on view in front of the building a half-hour beforehand. There will be time for audience questions, and light refreshments and conversation will follow the program.
Harvard firefighters show off their truck lineup circa 1933. (Photo courtesy of Harvard Historical Society)
Engineer Curran, who is lead driver and in charge of maintenance on Engine 2, owns and runs his own commercial film production company (FIRE ENGINE Productions, Inc.) and made the film to celebrate the department’s 100th anniversary, part of a series of events delayed a year by the pandemic. Curran’s film is informative but more than that, it captures the way in which firefighting has always been a community effort.
He begins the film, “Harvard Fire Department: A Century of Service,” with clips from his interviews of the late Doug Cregar, past president of the Historical Society, and two other board members about early methods of firefighting. They talk about community bucket brigades, the use of chemicals to fight fire, and significant fires on the Common, notably the Unitarian Church, the second church on that exact site to burn, and two houses on the south end, one of which was a stately mansion.
The film continues with late Chief Peter Warren describing his long connection to the department and how members and their families formed a tight-knit community, meeting socially almost every weekend. In some families several generations have belonged to the department (Warren’s own being one of those). Current officers talk about the history of the department as they have experienced it and how they have seen both firefighting equipment and methods change over the years. A musical montage captures the Fire Department’s memorial tribute to Warren in the town center, activities in a muster with rival towns’ firefighters, and other examples of community spirit that the Fire Department exemplifies.
Almost all the officers in the film will participate in the panel discussion: Chief Rick Sicard, Deputy Chief Charlie Nigzus, Lt. Tony Shaw, Lt. Andrew Perry, and retired Chief Alex McCurdy. Lt. Bill Barton appears in the film but he will be out of town, and Lt. Brian Perwak, who served 25 years in the department and is filling in as a temporary lieutenant, will participate in his stead. Curran said he is looking forward to the opportunity to have longtime department members expand on their experiences mentioned in the film, such as being a “chaser,” joining the department, and participating in musters over the years.
Fire Chief Bob Mignard directs the efforts of firefighters from Harvard, Ayer, and seven other surrounding towns at the Historical Society fire, Sept. 23, 2008. (Photo by Lisa Aciukewicz)
Of particular interest will be recollections of Shaw and Nigzus who, along with Barton, helped fight the flames that threatened the Historical Society meetinghouse in September 2008. The damage was mostly from water, but every single item in the society’s collections—other than the archives, housed in a different building—had to be removed from the meetinghouse. One passerby, seeing objects filling the lawn to the south, wondered if a yard sale was going on. The silver lining from the fire was that the storage of collections was completely reorganized and the society went from being an “attic” to more of a museum.
Attendees will have an opportunity to ask questions about department history or current operations, and those in the town center may want to ask about the strange alarm that sounds sporadically.
The program is free but donations are welcome, and there will be a drawing for a door prize.
