Three things retiring Wellfleet Fire Chief Rich Pauley didn't expect in his 40-year career
WELLFLEET — Richard Pauley Jr. is passing the torch after 11 years as the town’s fire chief, 25 years as a chief in total, and a 40-year career in fire service.
“Twenty-five years as a fire chief is a lot,” he said Thursday at his office in the fire station. “We’ve done great things here. I’ve had great support from my staff, taxpayers and the town. It’s time.”
Pauley wore a white polo shirt with the red and gold Wellfleet Fire and Rescue logo, his title embroidered in gold on the front. Radio chatter was steady while he worked through a neat stack of papers. He’s been responsible for 22 staff members, vehicles, equipment, budgeting — and the worry — for long enough.
“I love the Cape, I love Wellfleet, but we made plans years ago," he said, referring to his wife, Pamela.” They'll spend summers in Maine, winters in Florida.
Pauley's retirement comes at a time of change in fire service in the Cape's three outermost towns. Former Provincetown Fire Chief Michael Trovato stepped down in early July. Trovato was fire chief since 1991. Both departments along with the neighboring town of Truro have experienced the waning availability of volunteer or on-call firefighters, a move to hire more full-time career firefighters and a shortage of housing that firefighters can afford.
"You realize you've done what you can," Pauley said. "You try to leave the place better than you found it and I know we've done that. It's time for someone else to take it to the next level.
Wellfleet Deputy Fire Chief Joseph Cappello will take over Sept. 1.
Finding his calling in his teens
Pauley joined a volunteer firefighter program in Lunenburg when he was in high school. He was 16½ years old. Several of his close friends went through that program.
“I knew then and there, that’s what I wanted to do,” he said.
Six years after college, he was hired as a fire prevention officer and deputy fire chief in Laconia, New Hampshire. It was a dream come true.
Pauley’s office is a door away from the dispatcher's room. On Thursday Pauley watched through his office window as Engine 95 and an ambulance pulled out, their sirens blaring to respond to a car crash on Route 6. It was a clear sunny day before noon, but Pauley said every fire chief will tell you the same thing: they always worry about staff.
“We have well-trained staff. We have excellent people,” he said. “But you always worry about them, even this call at 11:30 Thursday morning. They’re out on Route 6. Hopefully everyone is paying attention and no one’s going to get clipped.”
In 12 years, the department has grown
Twelve years ago, Wellfleet couldn’t send out two vehicles at once. Pauley set about to change that. The department grew from nine full time firefighters, including the chief, to the current roster of 22. Four groups of five individuals are on a shift. All staff are trained EMTs and 70% of them are paramedics.
The population of Wellfleet is about 4,300 but like Truro and Provincetown the town sees a large seasonal influx of visitors and part-time residents.
The best part of the job has been seeing the evolution and growth of the department, Pauley said. Thanks to the support of the taxpayers, he added.
The shelves in his office are crammed full of notebooks, manuals and storage boxes. A Barnstable County Mutual Aid manual sits next to a street directory. Three thick Massachusetts state building code manuals eat up space on his shelf. A state comprehensive fire safety code manual shares space with an equipment resource guidebook.
Pauley oversees a $2.689 million annual budget, is a member of the Cape and Islands Fire Chief Association, and for 30 days last year was the interim town administrator.
“It was the longest 30 days in my life,” he quipped.
"He has presided over numerous improvements in the department, including upgrading equipment and streamlining the process for acquiring ambulances,” said John Wolf, chair of the Wellfleet Selectboard. “He navigated the labyrinth of the troubled state of the town’s finances to keep the department operating at a high level."
Three things he didn't expect in his career
Housing is one thing Pauley didn't expect to worry about in his career. The cost of housing for fire department staff is impacting fire stations across the state and the country, including Wellfleet, he said.
Pauley never thought he’d have to buy ballistic vests and helmets for his staff, or that his staff would have to participate in active shooter training.
He also didn't expect high cost new of fire engines, ambulances, gear and the need to replace them according to their lifespans. “We’re in a whole new world,” he said.
Too many fatal fires
Firefighters, paramedics and EMTs are called to scenes where injuries, deaths, and fatal fires greet them. Pauley understood what the job entailed when he first started. Still, there are memories that haunt him. One of the worst was a fire where two children and their mother died on Christmas Eve day in Manchester, New Hampshire.
There’s been a recognition of the trauma caused by such incidents, and a push in the last several years that emergency service personnel talk with trained therapists for emotional and mental health support and overall wellbeing.
“It’s what you got to do because the last thing any of us want to do, and we do it, is bring it home,” he said. “My wife can tell you there are times I brought it home and I shouldn’t have.”
Sandwich Fire Chief John Burke, president of the Cape and Islands Fire Chiefs Association, said that for fire chiefs “the phone rings and you have to make a decision."
"I don’t think people understand the level of vigilance you have to have in these situations," Burke said. Pauley been a great asset to the association, he said.
"We wish him the best. He’s certainly deserved it,” Burke said.
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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: More change in fire chief leadership in Cape's outermost towns
