After 36 years and 10 months service for the Athol Fire Department, Duguay has retired as fire chief and emergency management director.
About 40 years ago, a near tragedy close to home propelled John L. Duguay into the ranks of Athol’s emergency services, where he has been ever since.
After high school, Duguay was working at the Union Twist Drill cutting tool factory, where so many of the town’s call firefighters worked that the plant had installed fire alarm bells to alert the emergency responders when they were needed.
One day in 1979 the system alerted call firefighters to a house fire on Arthur Avenue — to Duguay’s parent’s home. Everyone got out safely, but incident drove home to the young Duguway the importance of the town’s emergency responders to the lives of all the people around him that he had grown up with.
He decided to join the fire department.
“Back then there were many people trying to get on the department,” said Duguay. He was hired in 1981, starting as a call firefighter and working his way up the ranks over the years under five fire chiefs.
Duguay was appointed fire chief on April 6, 2015. And now, he’s stepping into retirement having served that need he had recognized so many decades ago.
Duguay was lauded at a recent surprise retirement party held at the Orange Gun Club, where he was presented citations from the House of Representatives and the Senate acknowledging his many years of service. More importantly he enjoyed the appreciation and accolades of the people he has worked with, served and saved.
Duguay received a commendation for his role in saving a life during a near-drowning at Silver Lake. But he characteristically spread the credit. “There were several of us involved in saving that kid’s life,” he said. And as nice as citations are, he noted that “Every day is like a citation in my mind. This is a job we do every day.”
From his modest comments, it would seem that Duguay’s heart truly was in the job all those years.
“I enjoyed going to work every day and working with outstanding firefighters. It’s like a second family,” he told the Daily News.
Now, the retired chief plans to kick back for a while, catch up on some hunting and fishing, and take a little time off from volunteering. He said he’s not likely to turn into a snowbird who winters in Florida. We suspect this Athol native who has made a career of rushing to people’s aid, isn’t likely to rest on his laurels either. We doubt it will be very long before Duguay finds news, perhaps less rigorous ways to help his friends, family and neighbors, whose respect and gratitude he has earned over the years.