SWAMPSCOTT — After more than 41 years with the Swampscott Fire Department, Capt. Kevin Thompson is calling it a career.
Thompson, 62, joined the Swampscott Fire Department in 1976 as a firefighter and was promoted to captain in 1991. He retired last Friday.
“Kevin was a very calm guy for the most part,” said Fire Chief Kevin Breen, who joined the department around the same time as Thompson. “I rarely, if ever, saw him get angry or upset. We worked together for a number of years in the same group.
“(He was) a very instinctive firefighter. As an officer, he was for the most part, very calm and deliberative in his management so he would stay calm under pressure.”
Thompson, a Swampscott resident, said he’s retiring because he knew it was time to go. He said he’ll probably do some traveling in his retirement.
Thompson said becoming a firefighter was always something that was in the back of his mind before getting into the field. His grandfather, Luke Thompson, was also a firefighter in Swampscott.
“I was very fortunate to work with a great group of men and women at the department,” Thompson said. “I learned a great deal from each and every one of them and it made the career a lot better working along with them.”
Breen said Thompson was also the department’s de facto historian over the past several years. He has been active in preserving the fire department’s history, collecting more than 1,600 photographs from various people that were taken over the years.
Thompson wanted to make sure the department’s history wasn’t forgotten. Over the years, he would hear the guys telling stories about major incidents that happened and thought it would be a good idea to track down different photos.
He also worked with others, including Breen and former Fire Chief Michael Champion to get a memorial put in front of the fire station, which was dedicated in June 2010, and has the names of the six firefighters who died in the line of duty in Swampscott.
Two of the biggest incidents he responded to during his career included the second great Lynn fire of 1981, which took place in November. He said 500 firefighters responded, which included those from Brockton, Salem, New Hampshire, and everywhere in between.
Where North Shore Community College is, he said there used to be eight- or nine-story factory buildings, which caught on fire. There were four city blocks burning at the same time, which took two to three days to put out. Fire crews rotated to fight the blaze.
There were no fatalities, he said, but a firefighter was injured after being hit by debris from a collapsed wall.
The other major incident Thompson remembers is the Blizzard of 1978. He came to work on a Tuesday and didn’t go home again until Sunday. He said lots of people were stranded in their homes because the streets were flooded.
Firefighters worked to pull people out of their houses and did a lot of medical aid for people who got injured shoveling snow or using a snowblower. One person had a heart attack during the storm, he said.
During the storm, Thompson there was a building fire in Lynn. He didn’t respond, but another crew did. Firefighters were delayed getting to it because the roads were impassable — the building was a massive sheet of flames by the time crews arrived.
For those aspiring to be a firefighter, Thompson said it’s a great job, but they have to realize their schedule will include working nights and weekends.
“It’s a very enriching career. You get a lot out of it, especially when you can help someone out when they’re in a tough situation and they say thank you.”
With Thompson’s retirement, Joe Gambale was promoted from lieutenant to captain and James Snow was promoted from firefighter to lieutenant. Department salaries are approximately $60,000, $69,000 and $78,000 for firefighter, lieutenant and captain respectively, Breen said.
