by Julie Gowel ·
Friday, January 9, 2026
Sitting upstairs at the General Store among a crowd of pre-holiday revelers taking up all available tables in the space, Jen Schoenberg hears a loud tone from her phone, signaling an alarm.. She reaches for it and explains, “This will be an investigation call. Probably just something for a fire officer is my guess,” she says. Then, “No. It’s a fire call. Smoke in the area. I have to go—is that all right?” she asks.
Schoenberg is a volunteer firefighter and emergency medical services technician (EMT) for the town of Harvard, and was talking to the Press about the need for new recruits before her abrupt departure.
On Thursday, Jan.15, at 7 p.m., Harvard’s Fire-EMS Department will host an open house at the fire station at 11 Elm Street. The purpose of the event is to gather interested people and orient them to the town’s mostly volunteer department. Fire Chief Rick Sicard and Lieutenants Andrew Perry and Jason Cotting, along with many volunteer firefighters and EMTs, will be on hand to answer questions and give tours of the station and equipment.
The recruitment open house is a yearly event, but according to Perry, it is particularly significant now as the department will have people “aging out” in the next couple of years, and those team members need to be replaced.
“It started 105 years ago, that’s when the Harvard fire department was formed. [The volunteer] model has continued over the last century,” said Perry. “The call volume isn’t wildly significant. We don’t need to have people here [24 hours per day, seven days per week] like all of our surrounding communities. To hire enough people to get the same response we have with volunteers would be astronomical for the town budget.”
Perry credits a strong sense of community in Harvard for the continuation of the volunteer department. The law in Massachusetts specifies that people over the age of 65 can no longer serve as firefighters. Currently, the Harvard Fire-EMS has 60 volunteers, but it needs to begin training more to “replenish the well,” as Perry explained.
Anyone between the ages of 18 and 65 with a driver’s license and a high school diploma or equivalent is eligible to volunteer. “We provide everything else at no cost to the individual,” said Perry. “We teach them CPR [cardiopulmonary resuscitation], we certify them as first responders. We provide EMT training. We send people to the Fire Academy [in Stow]. We pay our people for their time when they graduate. Everyone gets paid when they show up to a call. I always say they volunteer to get paid. They’re not forced to come in when the tones go off, but they do receive compensation for their time.”
While compensation is a bonus, for Schoenberg, joining the Harvard Fire-EMS was a natural progression stemming from her volunteer hours, and then paid work with the Council on Aging. When her children reached high school, she felt it was time to reenter the workforce, and she started by helping older adults, and while doing that work, she often came into contact with the town’s firefighters and EMTs.
“I had zero background in the fire service. I went to the recruitment night just to learn,” she said. “They showed a video with real scenarios, and I realized, ‘I can do that.’ It spoke to me emotionally. You realize you’re going to someone’s worst day and you really can make a difference.”
For on-call firefighter and EMT Chris Tota, his work with Harvard led to a complete career change. Tota became an EMT when he was just a teenager and working as a junior ski patroller. After he moved to Ayer in 2017, a friend connected him to the ambulance services in Harvard, before it merged in 2024 to become the single Fire-EMS Department it is today, and he began volunteering. In 2025, he completed training at the fire academy.
“For me, Harvard Fire-EMS was a stepping stone that helped me realize I wanted this as a career,” said Tota in an interview with the Press. “Until this past June, I was a high school science teacher in Burlington. I quit teaching on June 21 and started full time [as a firefighter] in Ayer on June 23. Chief Sicard was a huge proponent of mine when I told him I was thinking about [the career change], and he was a reference for me.”
Tota continues to volunteer for the Harvard Fire-EMS Department, saying he actually has more time to participate now that he is no longer commuting to Burlington. He recalled his most memorable experience, a dispatch in March of last year to an emergency on Route 2, just off the Harvard exit. Upon arrival, he learned it was a mother in active labor. Tota and another first responder successfully delivered a healthy baby girl on the side of the highway. He and his colleague earned their stork pins for their efforts, and the family visited the fire station the following week with the baby to thank Tota.
From working with older adults to being a high school science teacher, volunteers for the Harvard-Fire EMS come from many different backgrounds. Bill Barton, an on-call fire officer and regional vice president for a health care services company, recounted how he became a volunteer. Almost two decades ago, Barton watched out his window on Stow Road as a DPW truck broke down and began leaking hydraulic fluid onto the ground. The town’s Fire Department arrived on scene to assist with the cleanup, and Barton struck up a conversation with the chief.
“’[The chief] shared with me that our fire department runs on the service of volunteers in town,” said Barton during a phone interview with the Press. “He told me what it took to get involved and become a member. And I said, ‘You mean, if I go through all this training and I get certifications, you’ll allow me to drive a fire truck?’ I was tickled at that point. It took a really big commitment over the next few years. And roughly eight or nine years later, I was promoted to lieutenant. I’ve been a lieutenant since.”
From left: Cameron Breault, Jared Wayne, Chris Tota, Ryian Vandal holding daughter Lennon Saball, Kole Saball, Max Saball, Samantha Williams, Joe Palido, and Hannah Beckman. Tota and another first responder successfully delivered Lennon on the side of Route 2 last March. (Photo by Lisa Aciukewicz)
Training for Harvard Fire-EMS is extensive and a source of satisfaction for Perry. “We really pride ourselves on our training,” he said. “And I think our surrounding communities see that, too. They know that when they come to Harvard, they’re going to work with an EMT, even if they’re new, that has learned from our comprehensive program.”
For firefighting, there is an initial orientation that takes 12 to 15 hours, according to Perry. Volunteers learn about expectations and the keys to success, department structure, safety, personal protection equipment (PPE), how to use air packs and ladders, hose handling, tools and equipment, to name a few topics.
Once orientation is complete, volunteers can begin riding on the fire trucks but can’t assist with firefighting until they complete training with the state-run Fire Academy. That program is 240 hours long and takes about four months to complete. Classes typically take place two weekday evenings per week and on weekends.
On the EMS side, Tota said the commitment is similar in structure, and it takes approximately six months to get EMT certification. He did note there is another option, emergency medical responder (EMR) training, which requires only about a third of the time commitment. An EMR can arrive on scene and administer basic life support like CPR to stabilize a patient, but only an EMT can treat and transport patients.
“If there’s any shred of interest, even just a 10% chance, people should come on down to the open house and hear what we have to say,” said Perry. “There’s no commitment, but it’s a rewarding experience. It’s truly amazing to be able to help the people that you live and work with, that your kids go to school with. It’s neighbors helping neighbors, and that’s always been one of our founding principles.”
“What’s wonderful about how we do orientation is that the first portion of it is just a come-and-see,” said Barton. “People can spend time observing and learning the process of Harvard Fire before they have to fully commit and get into the training aspect of it. It gives them a chance to wet their feet, dip their toe in and see how it feels. It is a bunch of individuals that are focused and dedicated to helping out their neighbors, and that is a wonderful thing to be a part of.”
A patient’s viewpoint: ‘Above and beyond’
For Harvard resident Lorelei McClure, the importance of a strong Fire-EMS Department is not abstract. It’s personal.
McClure has been on the receiving end of Harvard’s emergency medical services multiple times, and she shared her experience with the Press. She lives in senior housing and during a routine fire drill last summer, the lights and alarms triggered her seizure disorder.
“[The EMTs] immediately came to my aid,” she said. “They didn’t have to take me to the hospital, but [they] rendered services in the back of the ambulance, right then and there. I got to see how quickly they were able to react, and then they helped me back inside.”
McClure grew up around firefighters, and EMTs and was a member of the armed services herself. She moved to town last year and has been impressed with the care she has received from the first responders.
“I’ve dealt with EMS services from other towns, and I think Harvard goes above and beyond,” said McClure. “I’ve never found that they can’t do what they need to do. They’re very well trained.” She suffered two strokes since moving to town and said she was surprised by the extent to which the EMTs ensured her well-being.
“They didn’t just drop me at the door of the emergency room,” she said. “They took me through registration, down to the CT scan room, and they stayed with me to make sure I was being followed through and getting the services I needed.”
McClure’s service dog, Prince Charming, has also been accommodated during emergency calls. The dog is trained to detect seizures and is a critical component of her medical care. “They always make sure he has his vest and his leash, and that I have everything I need,” she said. “They don’t just leave me.”
“Whenever you have to call the ambulance and you’re not feeling well and you’re scared, they all make it a very comfortable experience. And that’s what’s nice.”
—JG