Going beyond fighting fires...By: David J. Craig
Somerville firefighter and lifelong resident Patrick Sullivan takes the suffering of those he meets on his job as seriously as he takes the job itself. His approach has taught him a lot about life over the course of his 35-year career, in addition to making him a great firefighter. "Pat's a knock-down, drag-out firefighter," says Fire chief Kevin Kelleher. "If you ask him to do something, he's the first guy in and the last one out. Be he's genuinely affected by things he sees in life, too. He's a humble compassionate human being." What inspired Sullivan to become a firefighter initially is the teamwork that characterizes employment in a fire company, he says. But in conversation, the gentle-looking, small-framed man often drifts into descriptions of lives that have touched his own at fire scenes. "Having a job, where you see suffering all the time, it gives you a chance to see what life is really about," says Sullivan. "It feels good to help people put theri losses into perspective. And when I put myself in their shoes, I see another side of life." Sullivan at 63, is the oldest firefighter in the department. He joined in 1963, after serving in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. While most firefighters stay in one part of a building during a fire, Sullivan's job as a deputy's aide is to scout the entire building, tracking the fire's progress. He is the eyes and ears of the deputy. The job takes so much concentration, Sullivan says, he has little opportunity to be distracted by the suffering of victims during a fire fight. "I never get nervous when I see people hurt in a fire," he says. "Sometimes you'll hear a cry or see someone trapped, and it's startling. But you can't think about it too much because you have to keep focused on just getting them out of there and doing your dob." Sullivan's sensitivity once a fire is under control, however, makes him unique asset to the department, according to Kelleher. "If he wasn't a firefighter, I bet he would have been a saint," says Kelleher. "He's a true humanitarian." According to Sullivan, being able to imagine the "trials and tribulations" of others is the key to a meaningful life. "You'll never know what's real in life until you put yourself in someone else's shoes and feel their pain," he says. "Most of the time, we're too busy thinking about ourselves and worrying about what other people think of us. That's when it's hard to see the forest from the trees. But when you really try to understand other people, that's when you get a new perspective." Sullivan says that when he talks to victims of a fire he tries to get them to recognize the positive side of theri situation. "What I try to tell people when they're looking at their home and it's devastated is that a house can be fixed. 'But you couldn't buy back them babies or your husband, or your wife' I tell them. I try to encourage people. I try to get them to appreciate the simple little things they have." Sullivan recognizes there is a limit to his empathy when true tragedy strikes, however. He described painfully the helplessness he felt when trying to comfort a woman whose son had committed suicide. "She was trying to get in the house," he recalls, describing the scene as "unbelievable" after the self-inflicted shooting. "And I just held her back and told her, 'Honey, there's something horrible in there and you don't want to go in there right now.' I just tried my best to keep her calm until a priest got there and could help her understand what had happened." Kelleher says Sullivan's kindness isn't restricted to fire scenes. "Pat sort of adopts people," he says. "We've met people on the job who were hurt or suffered great losses and Pat continues visiting them for years. And he's always making visits to all the old-timers from the department, making the rounds in his free time." More that once, according to Kelleher, Sullivan has stopped his car in the street to help a drunk or an otherwise needy soul lying on a sidewalk. "I've never met anybody who didn't like to receive love and understanding," says Sullivan. "The happiness you give to people for no reason comes back 1000 times greater. and that's the kind of happiness that you don't get with notoriety or gratuity." Sullivan says the only aspect of his job he is not crazy about is being the oldest firefighter in the department. He says he's not sure when he will retire but that he takes things "one day at a time" and tries not to think about it because the prospect does not thrill him. "I really don't like being the oldest guy in the department," he says. "It just means I'm that much closer to having to leave." Sullivan himself was blown out of buildings and nearly killed twice because of backdrafts. His "beautiful wife of 39 years, Joan," worries about him, he says. "But she know how important this is to me," he says. "I've done this job for 35 years and it's a job I love. Not once have I ever said to myself in the morning, 'Oh my God, I don't believe I have to go into work, today."
Somerville Fire Department History, Somerville Fire Department Photo Album, Somerville Fire Department Station Photos
Somerville Journal Fire Department Archives