Saratoga News

Photograph by Robert Scheer

Retiring Saratoga Fire Department firefighters John Campbell (left) and Terry Worden have 87 years of experience between them.

Firefighters look forward to having their weekends

Both enjoyed long tradition with department

By Sarah Lombardo

When John Campbell and Terry Worden signed up to be firefighters at the Saratoga Fire Department, they were two members of an all-volunteer force. Four decades later, they are retiring as on-call assistant chiefs from a force of more than 50 full-time and volunteer firefighters, trained in the latest techniques of firefighting, medical response and hazardous material calls.

"We've seen a lot of changes," said Campbell, who recently retired from his job with AAA Insurance. "We've seen it go from all-volunteer to what it is today."

Campbell joined the force in 1957, Worden in 1950. But they were no strangers to the firehouse when they joined.

"Both of our fathers were volunteers," Campbell said.

"We were down at the station before we were of age to join," Worden, a retired schoolteacher, said. "I got kicked off the rig a couple of times growing up."

Campbell said the close association with the department through their fathers was part of the reason the men joined the force. The other part: "It was just the thing to do."

"It gets in your blood," he said. "In those days, the siren went off, and the adrenaline started flowing because everyone ran down the street after the engine."

When Campbell and Worden began volunteering at the department, a siren would sound to let the firefighters know they had a call and were needed, and the majority of calls were for grass and house fires. Over the years, however, technology has changed. But so has the nature of the calls.

"Now, more than 90 percent of our calls are medical," Campbell said. He added that firefighters respond to "hazmat" (hazardous materials) calls as well.

"Education has got to be one of the highest priorities," Campbell said. "Everybody's life depends on what you do in a split second."

Campbell and Worden were responsible for training most of the young volunteers who signed up at the Saratoga station. The change in the kind of work firefighters do, they said, has had a definite impact on the kind of people who sign up.

"They are a well-educated and mature bunch of young people," Campbell said. He added that most of the volunteers have already had extensive emergency response training and CPR certification.

"I really admire these young people today because at age 18, they know what they want to do and where they are going," Worden said. "At that age, I had no idea what I wanted to do. These people, they are going after it."

In the future, Worden said, people interested in pursuing a career in firefighting will have to deal with greater and greater competition in the field, which didn't exist when he and Campbell first signed up.

"When we joined, you learned how to drive, you learned how to pump and then you'd work up from there," he said.

Now, Campbell will be doing most of his driving on a golf course. "I have a golf cart on order," he said.

Worden said he plans to do some traveling. But neither seems to regret leaving the force. "We have the weekends free," Worden said.

"The time was just right," Campbell said. "It was a great ride. I enjoyed every minute of it."

[ Back to Contents Page | Saratoga News Home Page | Archives ]