Lynne Klaft
Telegram & Gazette (Massachusetts)
Copyright 2007 Worcester Telegram & Gazette, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
LUNENBURG, Mass. — The Massachusetts Corps of Fire Chaplains was incorporated in 1999, and in December of that year fire took the lives of six firefighters at the Worcester Cold Storage building in Worcester.
Members of the corps were on scene every hour of the day until the final prayer of the last funeral.
On Sept. 11, 2001 the corps deployed 28 chaplains to Ground Zero in New York City at the request of the International Association of Firefighters and served there for five weeks.
“Andy is the best thing that ever happened to us, the best appointment I have made to the department...because he listens to us,” said Fire Chief Scott F. Glenny of Rev. Andrew C. Burr’s appointment as department chaplain.
“He serves in a role we never had before. He helps victims, people at the scene, and our people during and after an event,” said Chief Glenny.
Rev. Burr, pastor of the United Parish of Lunenburg, has received fire-ground training at the state fire academy, supervised entrance to burning buildings, had an introduction to crime scene investigations, and underwent critical incident stress management training.
“The idea behind Mass. Corps is to give chaplains the same training as the firefighters so that we are safe at fire scenes. My goal is to be the calmest one at a scene,” said Rev. Burr who is also accountability officer at a scene, keeping track of every firefighter.
Rev. Burr was appointed chaplain in 2003.
“It’s a fairly new position and we are learning as we go about his primary functions,” said the chief. “But it has given me someone to talk to from a different point of view - not from the firefighter’s point of view - he makes me think.”
The chief, Deputy Chief David P. Demers, and public information officer and Firefighter Jon C. Jones, all members of the fire department with 25 years or more of service, have come to respect and accept the support that a chaplain can bring to the department.
“Before, we had no one to talk to. Being first responders to fatal accidents is not easy. Then, we were expected to just go on with life, go home and do normal things,” said Chief Glenny.
The chaplain is available to all the people serving the department, as well as other town departments for that support.
“Critical incident stress management is a psychological approach to manage post-traumatic stress...to make sense out of chaos, so that the firefighter can continue to serve the public,” said Rev. Burr.
“It wouldn’t work without the full support of the chiefs, there are no reports back after talking to the guys, and there is full confidentiality.”
“It’s nondenominational. It doesn’t matter what you are and Andy will deal with you, talk with you,” added Firefighter Jones. “He deals with a person as a person.”
“He’s someone we have to talk to about personal issues. It’s a skill that they don’t teach you in chief school,” said Chief Glenny.
Rev. Burr calls it “sidling-up therapy”. “There’s not a lot I can do at a scene. But I can walk up and stand next to someone...as a pressure release.”
“New people enter the department and after too many calls, sometimes feel like that’s all that’s life is about,” said Firefighter Jones. “And it helps to have someone give you perspective.”
“Andy is fostering an atmosphere of processing and getting it out, so we can get along with everyday life,” added the chief. “He’s keeping people in the job. We have lost good people over the years to the stress.”
“When you call us, you are probably not having a good day,” said Firefighter Jones. “Andy looks at it with different eyes, a different perspective than a firefighter dealing with an incident...does someone have to be called, does the wife need a ride to the hospital...things we may not have had time to pay attention to in the past.”
“This has been the most humbling aspect of my ministry, to be able to serve this group and has been a blessing beyond measure. To help the public safety people care for the townsfolk is nothing short of miraculous,” said Rev. Burr.
As the interview was winding up late in the afternoon, the fire alarm went off again, and the department was out the door to the second fire alarm call of the day...with Rev. Burr in tow.