51 years a firefighter

Joe Testa joined the Delaware Air National Guard more than 50 years ago, joining the crash crew, where they trained to put out aircraft fires in the event one ever went down.

He enjoyed the work and the closest he said he ever got to an airplane crash was an incident in South Carolina when a cargo plane reported a problem with its landing gear.

About a minute and half before the C-141 landed, the gear dropped and all was well, but the Guard training set the stage for Testa to become a firefighter in Avondale, Pennsylvania, where he served as a volunteer for 38 1/2 years.

Testa worked at Dupont for a living, a supervisor of its printing section. But when he wasn’t working, firefighting was a big part of his life, going on more than 200 calls a year.

When his children got older, he’d even take the kids on a call if the situation wasn’t too dire. They’d sit in the truck and watch Dad at work, oftentimes in pajamas.

Avondale is known as the mushroom capital of the world, as it grows more than half the mushrooms sold in the U.S., Testa explained during a recent interview.

Growing mushrooms requires a lot of mulch, taken from old hay. Old hay under the right conditions will heat and spontaneously combust.

Those fires are a lot of work to get out.

“We’d spend two, three days putting those hay bales out,” he said. Once they start, it’s a stubborn fire that will smolder unless soaked.

Retirement age rolled around and Testa’s daughter, Kristian, was living in Montana. She was working in Polebridge and Testa and his wife Patti came out to visit.

Kristian made roots in Montana and the Testas visits became more frequent.

When Testa retired from Dupont, the couple decided to move to Columbia Falls.

It was 2009. A few months later, in January 2010, Testa started a second career as a volunteer firefighter, serving another 11 years with Bad Rock, until he recently retired from that department.

All told, Testa has been a firefighter for 51 of 71 years of life.

It’s been rewarding work, he said.

“I helped build this place,” he said, looking around at the Bad Rock fire hall, which was built a few years ago.

When Testa first moved here, he said he couldn’t believe the old hall, which sat just off Highway 206 on a corner at Kelly Road that was host to many accidents over the years.

Working with fellow firefighters and chief Kirk Katzenmeyer, they put together a modest plan to build new bays at first, and then add on a hall later, thinking the fire board, which governed the budget, would like that plan better.

“The board floored us and said ‘why not build the whole thing?’” he recalled. “That’s what we did.”

Testa painted the building, at least the back half, twice, he said with a smile.

The first coat was a baby blue and the women of the department didn’t like the color. So he painted it over again, to the patina it is today.

Testa has advice for folks looking to volunteer, and Bad Rock can always use volunteers. It is a busy district, but doesn’t have a lot of people, so firefighters are always needed to help. Sometimes an engine will roll with just a couple of hands on deck.

“It takes a little bit of your time,” he said. “And sometimes it can be frustrating.”

But have patience, he advised. Not every call is exciting, which is often better than it sounds. Because when there’s no action, there’s not nearly as much work afterward, like rolling and cleaning hose, or scrubbing trucks free of filth and grime.

“It’s just nice backing (the trucks) in the engine bays and washing them down,” he said.

He recalled one house fire on Middle Road that went for eight hours.

Volunteering also builds camaraderie. The fire hall was often a family gathering place. They’d have water “fights” on hot summer nights after training.

“Everybody knew everybody’s kids,” he said.

He encourages anyone who lives in the district and is able to consider volunteering. He’s since handed in his pager, but if he hears a siren go by the house, he’s at the window.

“I might even hop in the truck and go see what it is,” he said.