BY GEORGE FJELD
BRANDON- Harry E. Hunt was recently honored for 50 years with the Brandon Fire Department with the presentation of a shiny new fire ax. Hunt, now 80 years old, belonged to the Pittsford Fire Department for 6 years before joining Brandon. Reflecting on his lifetime of civic commitment, he said, “I’ve been very proud to work with many good guys in my time. I’ve worked with a good many fire chiefs but I never desired to be an officer. The chiefs always appreciated me because I could communicate with everyone, old and young.”
Born in Windsor Vermont, he moved to Brandon at age 3. After high school he spent 6 years in the U.S. Navy, including during the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Upon returning to Vermont, he married Arlene Fay in June 1966 and they settled in Pittsford. He joined the Fire Department “to do something for my community.” They moved to Grove Street in Brandon in 1972 and still live in the same house. They have one son, Harry L. Hunt. Young Harry joined his father in the fire department while still in high school and has 30 years in himself. After the Navy, Hunt was employed by the phone company for 30 years as a lineman, and then spent the next 25 as the maintenance person at Keewaydin Camp.
Back in the 1970s, the fire siren would go off and its code of long and short blasts indicated where the fire was. The siren could be heard all over town. Bob and Joan Thomas of Thomas’ Answering Service would let the fire station know the exact location. Recalling one memorable fire out on Pearl Street, where Ralph Ethier lives now, Harry didn’t need to know the code, he could see the flames when he ran out the front door of his house on Grove Street.
Hunt responded to 1000’s of fire calls and accidents but among the biggest ones were Torrey’s Barn on McConnell Road, the dry cleaners (where the Falls Park is now), The Newton Thompson factory in Forestdale, and the New England Woodcraft fire, where he was the most scared. Charged with keeping the line of propane tanks close to the building cool by spraying water on them, he was asked by a fellow young fireman what would happen if they blew up. Hunt responded, “If that happens, we won’t know!”
The worst thing Harry experienced as a firefighter was when someone didn’t make it, recalling the loss of life in the dry cleaner building fire and the family with kids that died in a Route 7 crash where they were buried under a truck. Hunt has fallen through the floor of a burning building and battled a fire at 20 degrees below zero. That cold winter fire was in the Bardwell Hotel in the seventies where firemen were transported to Rutland Hospital to thaw out and return to fight fire again. Arlene Hunt says “He’s lucky to make it to 80!”
When not fighting fires, Hunt loves to hunt and fish although he’s a little restricted now with weak legs. He’s proud of the 12-point deer he harvested in Goshen as well as the state record rainbow trout he caught ice fishing on Lake Dunmore in March of 2006. He survived a heart attack while deer hunting in Pennsylvania years back. He’s also belonged to the Lions and the American Legion for decades. Faced with declining volunteerism across the nation, Hunt encourages young people to “make a commitment to the fire department, it will bring a lifetime of rewards.”
Due to his health, Hunt now runs the radio during fires. Harry E. Hunt sums up his lifetime in the fire department with these simple words: “I miss being on the fire truck when it goes out!”
