Lieutenant Quetta took the axe from my hands and simply said, “like this.” He put the flat part of the head between the door and the jamb, exerted some pressure and pulled the hinges away. He gave the axe back. “Now you.” I did exactly what he did on the lower hinge, the door fell over and we were in. The fire had started in a rear bedroom, the flames now rolled over the ceiling, toward us.

“Stay low,” said the Lieutenant, who keyed the mike, placed it it the corner of his mask where sound got through and gave the command, “Engine 2, charge my line.” We were in position, the line filled, Wayne was at the pipe, he opened the gate, and blackness descended upon us. I thought my ears would melt into my helmet. Lt. Quetta moved us forward, deeper in, looking for more fire. We found plenty. And we put it out.

Later that day, when lunch was over and the cleanup began, he ordered me away from the sink where the stack of pots and pans needed to feed eleven hungry firefighters nearly reached the ceiling. “You cooked, sit down,” he said, and took over. Twenty minutes later he finished with the dishes and went into his office.

I worked with him dozens of times after that, mostly overtime shifts. I was never part of his regular crew, there was a long line of senior guys ahead of me. I learned more from him in the hundred words he spoke to me than I did in the hundreds of textbooks we are required to study.

Rest in Peace, Captain Quetta.

January 6, 2009

http://www.wpri.com/dpp/news/local_news/local_wpri_providence_quetta_firefighter_funeral_20090110

Years later, somewhere in my career between thinking I knew everything and realizing I didn’t I found myself working for Captain Michael Day at Engine 10, the Broad Street Bullies. I had just been shacked from my previous spot, shacking being the equivalent of being traded to a different team because you didn’t fit in with your present one. It was a low point for me, somewhere around year nine of my career. I was on the road until they found a spot for me.

Around three we got a call for a working building fire. I took the tool seat, and off we went. There was a smoke condition haf a mile away, flames visible on Side 2. Engine 10 stopped just past the fire building, Ladder 5 right behind us. It is vitally important that each and every firefighter do his job well at a fire, the safety of everybody depends on it. Captain Day ordered me to “Force that Door!” then left to do a size up.

I took my axe, used my body weight and the head like a battering ram and popped it open after three whacks. Then, I used a little trick somebody taught me years ago. I put the flat part of the axe into the space between the door and the jamb and twisted. The door fell from the hinges, I did it again in the middle, then at the bottom. The door was gone. I threw it to the side just as the Captain and the crew came through with the line. I backed them up, stretched the line up some stairs and we put the fire out.

Later, as I walked by his office, I heard Captain Day say to somebody from the company, probably so I could hear, but I’ll never know, the most important words that anybody who works with a fire department anywhere can hear.

“Whatever happened is over, Morse is a good firefighter.”

Those words had, and continue to have a profound effect on every aspect of my career. A few years later I transferred to the rescue division, but I never forget what Captain Day said, or the lessons from one of the people who made me a “good firefighter,”  Lieutenant Frank Quetta.

Rest in Peace, Chief Day

And, to all those who came and died before me, thank you.

Providence Firefighters killed in the Line of Duty

Firefighter Joshua Weaver (March, 1828)

Firefighter Daniel Freeman (1847)

Firefighter Neil Dougherty (1853)

Firefighter John McLane (September, 1870)

Firefighter William Lasselle (1880)

Firefighter Charles Battey (1880)

Firefighter Alexander J. McDonald (October 7, 1883)

Firefighter Daniel W. Brown (October 10, 1883)

Firefighter Stephen Conroy (1885)

Firefighter Alonzo Clark (1886)

Firefighter Nicholas B. Duff (October, 1886)

Firefighter Benson W. Johnson (June 16, 1900)

Captain Hiram D. Butts (January 24, 1901)

Firefighter Joseph Devine (July 17, 1902)

Firefighter John E. Carlin (July 27, 1903)

Firefighter Crawford A. Cornell (Janurary 24, 1905)

Captain George H. Noon (January 24, 1907)

Firefighter Benjamin N. Brown (December 26, 1908)

Firefighter Thomas H. Duffy (January 9, 1909)

Lieutenant Christopher Carpenter (May 12, 1912)

Firefighter Harry H. Howe (May 13, 1912)

Firefighter Frederick A. McCaffrey (July 19, 1912)

Firefighter Edward J. Hogan (July 19, 1912)

Firefighter George McGinn (September 27, 1918)

Firefighter Thomas H. Kelleher (January 31, 1921)

Firefighter John I. Tague (January 31, 1921)

Firefighter Arthur Cooper (January 31, 1921)

Lieutenant Michael J. Kiernan (February 5, 1921)

Firefighter Lawrence H. Taylor (May 24, 1926)

Firefighter Walter F. Dammers (January 29, 1929)

Firefighter Charles Keegan (June 17, 1930)

Firefighter Richard Coleman (November 13, 1930)

Firefighter Robert F. McDonald (March 22, 1932)

Firefighter Thomas F. Drury (March 5, 1934)

Firefighter Julian Miluck (April 29, 1936)

Firefighter Raymond Winters (May 6, 1938)

Captain William J. Smith (June 26, 1943)

Lieutenant William J. McElroy (March 9, 1944)

Firefighter Raymond Dean (December 31, 1944)

Firefighter Chester King (July 10, 1945)

Firefighter Riley W. Wilcox (August 27, 1954)

Firefighter Louis Defresne (April 11, 1955)

Captain George O. Heustis (March 8, 1958)

Firefighter Norman Clark (April 23, 1960)

Firefighter George Magnan (June 26, 1961)

Lieutenant Joseph F. Dorsey (March 5, 1963)

Captain Francis A. Shea (May 16, 1964)

Firefighter Edward F. Theriault (June 17, 1964)

Firefighter John Sullivan (February 6, 1965)

Firefighter Alfred Milliard (November 6, 1965)

Battalion Chief Joseph J. Mainey (April 25, 1967)

Firefighter Earl T. King (June 29, 1967)

Firefighter Joseph H. LeBlanc (March 20, 1970)

Lieutenant William J. Moreland, Jr. (December 13, 1977)

Deputy Assistant Chief Michael J. Day (June 13, 2006)

Captain Frank J. Quetta, Jr. (January 6, 2009)

Rescuing Providence will be hosting live coverage of The 2010 Firefighters Memorial Weekend.