MANCHESTER, NH – Of the thousands of meals Mike Gamache has enjoyed while on duty at Central Station as a city firefighter, none were as bittersweet as the steak tips and scallops served up Monday night in honor of his last day of service.
After 37½ years, Gamache is retiring as District Chief. He was joined at the table by his dad, retired District Chief Normand Gamache, his son, Lt. Chad Gamache, a fourth-generation Gamache firefighter, as well as his daughter, Tori, who chose a different path of service as a nurse – and more than a dozen members of his Central Station Shift 3 crew. Jim Langley was in charge of the flame-broiled surf and turf, cooked to perfection in the kitchen where night after night firefighters prepare meals family-style and then break bread together.
It’s one of the many rituals of fire service that makes moments like this one as familiar as they are solemn. But as retirement dinners go, the mood was casual and the conversation, minimal. That’s because chowing down knowing a call for service might interrupt the meal goes with the territory.
“When the bell rings we put a napkin over our plate and we’re off,” says Gamache, who spent a little time Monday night reflecting on how much things have changed since he followed in his father’s – and grandfather’s – footsteps, into fire service.
“I remember my very first day on the job and I think about how primitive we were as an organization in 1993. We were a true fire department. Medical calls were infrequent, and we had a lot of fire calls back then,” Gamache says. “Fire Department is a misnomer. We’re Emergency Services now – everything from Haz-Mat and medical calls to water rescues and puppies in culverts. We’ve had 26,000 calls for assistance this year. When I walked in the door 37 years ago I never imagined I’d be leading pandemic efforts and testing residents for COVID-19.”
But that is the new reality of the function of Manchester’s fire department, one Gamache says he will miss. All of it.
“We’re so proud of what we do for the community. I guess we’ve never been that good at patting ourselves on the back, or done a good enough job of redefining our role in terms of public perception. People are still surprised at the scope of what we do,” which these days also includes Safe Station, and outreach at homeless camps to those often dealing with mental health issues.
“There’s no short answer to what it means to be a city firefighter today, but I’ve always been passionate about serving people. I thought I’d stay longer, but it’s time for me to pursue some other endeavors,” Gamache said.
Over the years he’s experienced just about every kind of emergency situation you could imagine.
“I didn’t know what I wanted to do out of high school. I knew I didn’t want to go to college. I was working in a fast-food restaurant when, at 20, I just sort of knew that fire service was the direction I wanted to go in. I took a pay cut to become a firefighter, but over the years I developed a passion for the job. I was able to see my dad retire in 1996, and my son join the department in 2010. It wasn’t a straight line for him, either, but that seems to be the pattern.”
In case you’re wondering, it takes 20 pounds of scallops, 11 pounds of steak tips, five boxes of rice, five heads of lettuce – two iceberg, three romaine – and two large French baguettes to properly serve a retirement dinner to 16 firefighters. Gamache noted the excellent cooking skills of his fellow firefighters. “Some of these guys are so talented. They never wanted me to cook. I always did the dishes,” he says.
Also worth noting that when dinner guests consist of more than a dozen guys who prefer to rib one another and keep things light, the dinner party is sure to be short on sappy speeches.
However, Jim Langley, a Manchester firefighter of 14 years, found a quiet moment between dinner and dessert to reflect on what having a mentor like Gamache has meant to him, someone he regards as one of the fairest guys he’s ever known.
“He gave me great advice early in my career, advice I took to heart, and have never looked back. His leadership and his friendship have given me something to look up to,” says Langley.
“There are probably a few jobs where you way the job is a big part of your identity, and fire service is one of those. We take the job seriously and we take it with us everywhere we go. We know each other’s families and the bonds are strong,” Langley says. “I’ve been to a lot of big fires with him and always felt secure knowing he had our backs. To be with someone who’s had 37 years in fire service is extraordinary. I know I’ll miss him. You learn a lot from the guys above you, and you pass that knowledge along to the next guy throughout your career.”
With five years in, Bobby McKechnie is early in his career with Manchester Fire Department and takes classes at Granite State College where he’s learning bout leadership skills. Through that experience, he’s discovered that most everything he needed to know about leadership he has already learned from Gamache.
“I’ve probably quoted him like five times already in class. His management and leadership style includes plenty of fun and joking around, but when it’s time to do the job he leads from the front,” McKechnie says. “If I ever get in a position like that I’ll lead like him.”
As a cake was laid out on the dinner table, Capt. Ryan Cashin helped deliver a couple of gifts – and a few words of thanks.
“I appreciate everything you’ve done. You’re from a multi-generational firefighting family but you’ve made us all your family. That’s one of the first lessons I learned, that we’re all family. It’s not always easy to see in the beginning, but as you start moving along you can see it more, says Cashin.
An envelope with a cash gift for travel was next, followed by the final presentation, a framed photo of Gamache at one of the first fires he attended as District Chief. It was January 18, 2008, a five-alarm fire that destroyed three apartment buildings at 337 Lake Ave. Gamache was first on the scene, hearing the call while on his way home in the early morning hours.
“Yeah, I was a brand new chief at that one. That’s when I thought I had all the answers,” Gamache said, turning the photo around for a better look.
He was two months in as District Chief and before the night was over five firefighters would suffer injuries battling the inferno that engulfed three buildings as firefighters kept arriving, rescuing 29 people from the building and then turning their attention to the blaze, up against the cold and snow, and frozen hydrants.
“I got out of my truck with my clipboard, trying to look important, but quickly realized the clipboard was useless to me so I tossed it in a snowbank and got to work,” says Gamache, suddenly reliving the moment in real-time. “At the time it felt like I was there for an hour alone, but in reality it was only a minute. There were no fatalities, but we lost three triple-deckers.”
The dishes were mostly washed up as the cake was sliced into fireman-sized hunks. Gamache’s dog, Jake, continued to look for handouts and Gamache continued to shake hands and say his goodbyes.
He says he’s not sure what’s next, except for one thing: His daughter Ashley is expecting, and he’s ready for the arrival of his first grandchild in January, a boy, who has a long legacy of love and fire service to live up to, if he wants it.
