Under clear blue skies, fire muster teams from seven cities took to Wachusett Regional High School on June 15 for the 97th annual Fire Muster Competition.
The day kicked off with a parade of teams tossing candy from shiny, old-school fire engines to spectators lining the course for the day with their tents and chairs, ready to watch Bolton, Harvard, Holden, Princeton, Rutland, Sterling and West Boylston duke it out for the title of first place.
Muster competitions give participants a chance to show off their firefighting skills in several events, with teams first completing the Tower, which combines hose hookup, racing up a ladder with the hose, and shooting a target down with water. Other events mimicked night-time calls, complete with lullabies and cots, needing to “split” the hose for multiple targets, running women’s only crew, and a race for the “old-timers.”
Brendan Smith, a Sterling firefighter with 12 years of service under his belt, said the pump event qualifies as his favorite event during the musters.
“It’s the only event that actually uses the truck to pump the water into the hose, while for the other events, you just drive the truck,” Smith explained.
Over the last 12 years, Smith said things have changed quite a bit when it comes to muster competitions. In addition to having a shortage of people joining the firefighter ranks in general, the muster teams feel it too.
“It used to be a lot more cutthroat back in the day – there used to be fistfights to get on the muster team and if you screwed up, you got kicked off,” Smith laughed. “Now, it’s just like the fire service, it’s hard to get guys to show up.”
With just two practices and three new muster members, Smith said they were just there to do the best they can with what they got. For the Sterling Muster Team, or “Ster-caster” as it was affectionately nicknamed for their members from both Sterling and Lancaster, two practices sufficed, with the group taking second overall.
“Preparation is what firefighters do,” said Philip M. Conners, a Princeton firefighter who’s been with the department since 2004. “This is an older version but a lot of what we’re doing here is what still happens on a fire route.”
For Conners, he spends the majority of the musters behind the wheel of the department’s 1939 Ford truck. According to Conners, the department acquired it after an accident in the 1940s or 50s and then pieced it together to be a fire engine. The truck was retired from use in 1971 after its final run to a summit house on Mount Wachusett.
“For a number of years before I joined, it was dormant in someone’s field,” Conners explained. “The fire department restored it, put pieces back together, and it was still a work in progress when I joined in ‘04, and it’s still a work in progress. But it’s a labor of love, this truck.”
Now 20 years later, things on the muster team have evolved for Conners into a family affair, with his son, Tom, and daughter, Tracy, also competing alongside him for Princeton.
Tom, who favors the Tower run, joined the department as a volunteer in 2010. Tracy joins in on the competition as a former member of the Women’s Auxiliary, and now association member. She likes the Bed competition since it’s a crowd favorite.
“It’s a fun one,” she said. “It’s different and there’s a lot more going on, and we end up in our gear. But I don’t like running in my giant boots.”
Between all three Conners, they shared a history of the department, the engine, and stories of changes from over the years. For the most senior of the Conners, he said that although these competitions get a little bit harder for him year after year, having his family around has made him a fortunate man.
“Regardless of the fire department or not, I’m a very fortunate man to have such good kids,” Conners stated. “They’ve both done well, not just helping out the department and being a member of the department, but also in their private lives and in our family life. I’m a very lucky man.”
Tom and Tracy shared their father’s sentiments, attributing their strong family structure and the further support of the fire community as a positive aspect of their involvement over the years.
“It’s an extended family,” Tracy said. “You can’t really parallel it.”
With a decline in volunteer firefighters over the years, not just in Massachusetts but across the country, Tom said if people want to get involved with a department, they should look into joining as a volunteer or getting involved with the Princeton fire association.
According to the town of Princeton’s website, the association stays active in the community and funds go towards equipment purchases, a relief fund, a scholarship fund, the muster team, and other charitable pursuits.
Individuals with an interest in supporting their local fire station can find information through their local department.
As events concluded and the “old timers” wrapped up the day’s muster, Holden came out on top, followed by Sterling with Harvard taking third. Holden also took home this year’s Sportsmanship award. Next year’s muster will be hosted by Sterling, with the current date set for Father’s Day weekend.
For details on future competitions, information can be found on the Wachusett Muster League Facebook page.