Two longtime firefighters retire in Orange

ORANGE — Responses from the Orange Fire Department will look different from now on, as the agency has lost two paid on-call firefighters with a combined 85 years of service.

Deputy Chief William Gale and Lt. Terry Rooney retired from the department on Dec. 31, each saying it was time to hang up their uniforms and start the next chapter of their lives.

“I had a good rapport with everybody I worked with. It’s been a real privilege,” said Gale, who has reached the state’s mandatory retirement age of 65. “My body’s told me that I’ve had enough.”

Rooney is only 62 but said he knew it was time to call it quits.

“This career can be physically demanding at times, and I love watching the new firefighters come along, but I just can’t keep up with some of the physical demands at my age,” he said.

Gale grew up in Orange and graduated from Ralph C. Mahar Regional School. He said he joined the Fire Department in February 1979 and he “kind of grew up around it,” as his great-grandfather, Henry Gale, was a district chief at the Tully fire station and his father, Conrad Gale Jr., also served a stint on the fire crew.

“And where I lived at the time, it was right next to my house,” he recalled. “I used to see them going out all the time.”

Gale said memories that will stick with him include the former cereal factory fire in 2022 and the pair of fires at the N.D. Cass Co.’s toy factory and warehouse in Athol. He said he will miss the camaraderie with his fellow firefighters the most.

Rooney was raised in Williamstown and made his way to Orange after college. He joined the town’s Fire Department in 1986.

“I always had a desire to help others, give back to the community, those kinds of things. I was always raised to be proud of accomplishments and it just seemed like a good thing that a young person could do for the town,” he said. “Good for character-building, inner pride.”

Rooney said he was an Eagle Scout and serving as a firefighter seemed in line with his upbringing, though the career took its toll.

“It wasn’t always fun,” he said. “You’re called upon when people are, usually, having the worst day of their life. So you see a lot of bad, but there’s a certain amount of satisfaction in being called to help these people.

“We used to get a lot of people apologizing for calling them,” he added. “We used to impress upon them, ‘You are a resident of the town … this is what you’re paying us to do.’ I wish people wouldn’t be embarrassed to call us.”

Fire Chief James Young Jr. said he has had the privilege of serving under Gale and Rooney and as their supervisor.

“It’s been great. They were, of course, here when I arrived at the department,” he said last week. “They were really an integral part of my upbringing in the department, so to speak. They were mentors and great resources to me, as well as many other firefighters.”

Young described the men as some of the most dedicated people one could ever meet and said he never had to think twice about asking them to do something.

“Both are incredible people as well as incredible firefighters and members of the department,” he said.

According to Young, neither vacancy will be filled, meaning the Fire Department will be without a deputy chief. The department has three other lieutenants.

Gale and Rooney were honored with plaques and rounds of applause at the Orange Selectboard meeting on Dec. 17. Chair Tom Smith praised the two men and said he counts them as friends.

“Both are very hardworking, dedicated employees — wonderful men,” he said before addressing them directly. “I thank you from the bottom of my heart for all that you have done for this town.”