BERKLEY —Two town firefighters are leaving behind a total of nearly 75 years of experience that says as much the town they served in as about the men themselves.

John Franco is retiring after 31 years on the force highlighted by four years as chief.

He started as a volunteer firefighter in 1991, the year he moved from Taunton to Berkley.

He said he joined on the advice of a neighbor. He had applied through civil service to become a firefighter in Taunton but never made the cut. He was working in his yard on Macomber Street when the pager of a neighbor, Kerry Rodgers, went off, and the man explained he was a volunteer firefighter in town. Rodgers then invited Franco to follow him down to the station after the call. Franco joined the Berkley Fire Department that day.

Fifteen years to the day, in 2006, he became a full-timer. He acknowledges joining the department doesn't happen that fast nowadays. But he certainly had the motivation to make that quick bit of luck last.

When just a beginner he also worked as an EMT with AMR Ambulance Service, but that only boosted his credentials when it came time to be promoted.

He became interim chief then full chief in 2007. 

By then his sons Chris and Ryan had joined the fire department. Franco is proud to note his son Ryan graduated from high school, the fire academy, and Marine boot camp in the same year. 

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Franco served as chief for four years, until Scott Fournier went from fire captain to fire chief. 

"We just traded positions, and I became captain," Franco said.

What made him stay for 31 years?   

"Every aspect," Franco answered. "Mostly, it's been about being able to help the people of Berkley. They were fantastic to me. Supportive."

"That first year, we had Hurricane Bob. I had a tree down. My neighbors spent the night helping me with their chain saws. It was heart-warming, how much everyone joined in, welcomed me to the town. I just wanted to give back."

The biggest fires in his career? 

"The Silversmith Taunton Mill in the 1990s," he recalled. "Baron Brothers Furniture Store around 2000, the Sealy Apartment Building, Weir Street, the Route 44 old Taunton dog track, the Kern Mill fire in Fall River. A Freetown Brush Fire that took a couple of days."

But his toughest day was his first house fire, he said. 

"A woman lost her life in a fire on Main Street. We had to go in and get her and found her," he said. "It was a rough night."

"On quite a few calls, I had to tell a mother her son had passed away. One time it was my daughter's friend. It's such a small town, you know everybody. Best friends have died in my arms. A friend, Steve Andrews, had just left my house. Then I went to his medical call."

"I loved the job. But it takes a lot out of you. Emotionally. And It takes away from family times. It goes 24/7. You need dedication, constant training, supportive family."

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How did he deal with the pressures of such a tough job?

He said back when he started as a firefighter, "you just dealt with it. Put it away in your hurt locker and move on. But you can do that only so many times. I did eventually have to seek out help and therapy. Now I would advise any full-time firefighter to reach out to their department and they will help you get help. We deal with a lot. We have to help ourselves too."

Despite all the stresses, however, he said, "I have no regrets. I dealt with it all. It was well worth it. Protecting the people of the town makes me feel good."

Amasa Harmon, 58, who retired this year after 42 years as a Berkley firefighter, also recounts the night of that fatal house fire on Main Street as his toughest time as a firefighter.

Luckily, that was the only fire-related death he's ever experienced as a Berkley firefighter, he said.

"After we pulled her out of the house," he recalled of that night, "John and I had to go in to check for anyone else inside, and when I accidentally scared him the house shook.  He and I were there when she passed away. It was sad. We'll both remember that night." 

Harmon said he's dealt with the stresses of being a firefighter by never letting those stresses stop him from doing his job.

"You come home and be ready for the next day," he explained.   

A life-long Berkley resident, Harmon became a firefighter at age 16 because of what he called "a family commitment." His father, mother and brothers were all volunteer firefighters.

"My mother was an EMT, an instructor," he said, "and a civil defense coordinator She taught CPR. My other brothers were EMTs and firefighters. But they went on to do other things with their lives. I kind of felt like it was a responsibility for me to stay with it."

He became the fire hose nozzle man and the one who was sent to search a fire scene after a blaze, and he became the nozzle man for the Berkley fire muster team that he said was award winning when he was part of it.

The biggest mutual aid call he remembers was to the Route 44 Old Taunton dog track fire in September 2001. He said he was there when the glass façade fronting the complex exploded when firefighters doused it with water. 

"It got real hot real fast," he said.

He then spent the next six to eight hours in a tanker truck hauling water from where they had to drain it from the river by the Country Club in Dighton to the firefighting area.

Then there was the motor vehicle accident where a little boy, around 5 years old on his bicycle, was hit by a car by Fernandes Farm, and he arrived at the scene to see the boy in such bad shape he needed counseling, 

Fortunately the boy survived and is now an adult. Still that was another tough night for Harmon.

"I had lost a set of twins as infants. So that was a tough one. It was the one time I went to grief counseling. But my philosophy is do the hard work and go to the next call. You come home. You get up the next morning and go again," Harmon said.

Despite the stresses, what did he like about firefighting for so many years? 

"You got together and worked together, and you knew each officer's strengths and weaknesses. So as an officer I would assign tasks accordingly. When the tone for a fire rang, the chief would already be planning who will do what. You are already fighting the fire in your mind. I liked the camaraderie. They were so supportive when I lost my twins. I was always saying I hope everybody comes home."

"It's all about the togetherness of the brotherhood."