Saugus Fire Chief Blanchard retiring this summer after 39 years with department

SAUGUS – Saugus Fire Chief James Blanchard will be hanging up his helmet this summer after 39 years on the job.”It’s been a great career and it’s been a real challenge,” said Blanchard Tuesday. “I wouldn’t change it. I’ve loved the job of a firefighter. I still think it’s the best job in the world. You never do the same things twice, you don’t punch a clock, you show up here and it truly is a family.”Blanchard was first named chief in 2005 after serving as acting chief in 2004. He replaced Chief Walter Newbury who served from 1992 to 2004.Blanchard, who has two daughters and four grandchildren, said he plans to spend more time with his family once he steps down.”There are things I want to do with my family and grandchildren, and I want to do it while I’m still healthy enough,” said Blanchard.Blanchard, 62, first joined the Saugus Fire Department in 1972 after four years in the Navy. He said a family friend who was a firefighter in another city told him he loved the job and encouraged him to take the exam.”I really knew nothing about the job,” said Blanchard. “I got the job and I fell in love with it as soon as I started doing it. It’s like nothing else you could ever do in your life.”Blanchard responded to one of the biggest fires Saugus has ever seen during his first week: a five-alarm blaze at the Ace Welding factory, where Saugus Commons is now located.”I never thought there could be that much fire in the world,” said Blanchard, who was 21 at the time. “The building was an aircraft hanger-sized building and the whole building was on fire. That was something for a brand new guy to turn out to.”The job of a firefighter has changed dramatically over the years, said Blanchard. Now most firefighters are trained paramedics and emergency medical technicians and Blanchard said there are always new classes to take.Most of the firefighters he worked with were World War II veterans, who would have laughed at you if the word “college” was mentioned, he said.”Now, there’s more college graduates on the job than not,” said Blanchard. “It’s just incredible the education that the guys come on the job with. It’s a tremendous amount of training. It’s not easy to stay current in the job. We’re all EMTs and paramedics. The skill level to be a firefighter today, I don’t think people even consider that.”Paul Penachio, the Director of Emergency Management in Saugus, expressed surprise to hear Blanchard will be retiring in July.Penachio has been working with Blanchard for his entire 19-year career, and said there was “never a dull moment.””He was a captain when I was hired in 1993,” said Penachio. “I figured he had a couple of more years left before he threw the towel in. He’s very easy to talk to and had an open-door policy. He has no problem sitting down with you and discussing any issues or fixing any issues you may have.”Town Manager Andrew Bisignani said Blanchard notified him about a month ago that he planned to retire, and said his shoes will be “hard to fill.””He’s done a great job and he’s going to be sadly missed,” said Bisignani. “He’s very knowledgeable and a true professional. I’m not trained in the profession that he is, but I’ve never had concerns because he’s very, very good at what he does. He know the academics, he has excellent people skills, he gets along very well with the men. I couldn’t ask for a better department head.”Blanchard’s wife Christine said once her husband officially retires, they plan on spending a couple of months in Florida visiting fiends.”He hates the cold,” said Christine. “It’ll be nice. We spend a lot of years when he had two jobs and there was a lot of hours logged in. It’s really going to be wonderful have him home a little bit more.”Blanchard credits his family with keeping him going all these years.”My wife has put up with this fire job for 100 years,” said Blanchard. “When you’re doing it, you’re working every holiday. You’re family gives up a lot to support you. Our Christmases were always the day be