LYNN — It’s been 40 years since James McDonald fought his first serious fire, but he remembers the blaze like it was yesterday.
McDonald was two weeks into the job when Ladder 1 from the Fayette Street Station arrived at an abandoned three-family home on Essex Street. The building was engulfed in flames, as was an adjacent three-decker.
“I was horrified and shaking in my boots, I didn’t know what I was getting into,” he said. “You don’t know how you will handle it until it happens. I did great, but my eyes were like saucers and I was scared, but I kept that to myself.”
In January, the 62-year-old chief plans to retire. He joined the Lynn Fire Department at age 22 in 1977. It would be the only place he would ever work.
The Essex Street inferno would not be the only memorable fire he would fight.
Engine Five at Fayette Street Station was the first truck to arrive at the Great Lynn Fire in November of 1981 with McDonald aboard. The fire, which authorities said was set by an arsonist, forced more than 600 people, many of them from a housing project for the elderly, into the streets, according a report in The Item. Damage estimates ran as high as $40 million.
While no one was killed, 10 people, including six firefighters, were treated for smoke inhalation and minor injuries. The blaze destroyed 17 buildings and damaged nine others, and sent thick smoke that could be seen in Boston.
“It was the biggest fire I’ve ever seen to this day,” McDonald said. “I can’t understand how no one was seriously hurt or killed because eight-story buildings were crumbling to the street like a scene from a World War II movie.”
The worst carnage McDonald ever saw, he said, was the rooming house fire on Oxford Street in 1989 which killed five people. Investigators said careless smoking may have been the cause of the rooming house blaze.
“As we arrived on Ladder 1, we saw people jumping out of the building,” he said. “It was a horrifying scene. We got two dozen people out of windows and onto ladders, but others jumped right beside us because they couldn’t hold on. It was traumatic and I will never forget any second of it.”
But not all of his four decades were tragic. McDonald, known for being a practical joker, had some fun with police officers. “On July 4th we would get mischievous with fireworks,” he said. “Police cruisers used to pull into the 7–Eleven across from the fire station. We fired bottle rockets at them that landed near their cruisers. They were harmless, but it was a way to have fun. We are all in the same game, we just wear different uniforms.”
Lynn Fire District Chief Steve Archer said McDonald was a captain when he joined the department in 1993 and they’ve known each other for more than two decades.
“Jim is a very well-respected and built this reputation as a hands-on fireman and administrator,” he said. “You would be hard-pressed to find a guy in fire service who is more respected. He has the admiration of the rank and file. He earned his stripes through the ranks and served the city well. He will be missed.”
Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy said McDonald has been a fierce and dedicated advocate for the men and women of the department.
“I wish him health and happiness in his retirement,” she said in a statement.
State Fire Marshal Peter Ostroskey said he was sorry to hear McDonald was retiring.
“Jim has done a great job in Lynn as chief, he’s certainly a very capable fire service leader,” he said. “He was a staunch advocate for fire prevention and safety. He will be missed.”
But firefighting wasn’t a sure thing. McDonald came from a family of police officers. His father, uncle and grandfather were cops. He took the police and firefighter exams. While on the Lynn Fire Department, he received invitations from the Lynn and Saugus police departments.
“Everyone in my family is a public servant so it was in my DNA,” he said. “When I got called by the Saugus and Lynn police departments, I sat with my dad who was a police captain in Lynn and he suggested I stay put. I never looked back.”
When asked what he will miss most, the answer came easy.
“I’ll miss the people I work with,” he said. “They are incredible public servants. I’ve seen valor, bravery and caring. It’s an incredibly nice group of people.”
When his retirement begins next year, McDonald said he will spend more time at his vacation home in New Hampshire and next spring he will be on the golf course.
“My wife is retiring next June, so I’m looking forward to that, too,” he said.
