Week One....And four towns done

     During the recent sunny weather we had this week, I was able to hit a couple of the firehouses on the list while out and about in the area. I had my long time friend Bill with me, so full credit goes to him here as a patient chauffeur for the first outing. The first stop was at the firehouse in Pelham. Since I hadn't prepared ahead of time a list of addresses, I was pleased that Bill and I found it almost by accident. We originally had headed out to Harkness Road in Pelham to visit LilacLand, an estate where the grounds are open to the public a few weeks of the year, when the lilacs on the property are in bloom. Lilacs are my favorite flower, so this was nirvana for me, walking around the property with thousands of blossoms giving off those special, almost too sweet scents. Sounds crazy to go just to look at lilacs, but it is worth it. And free to the public so its a great deal!

    To get back to finding the Pelham firehouse, when we left Harkness Road, Bill suggested we turn right instead of left to head back towards Amherst center. It was a great suggestion as just a short way down the road, we came upon the Pelham Firehouse. In New England, where building ages are measured in centuries, this one is a newborn, with a ribbon cutting ceremony to mark its opening in June of 2013. Unfortunately, no trucks were outside at the time of our visit. For the first photo shoot of the project, it felt a little undramatic. A quick setup of the shot and it was over. The firehouse has more photos online at their web page, so you can get more information on the firehouse and its opening here: www.pelhamfd.com 

     After Pelham, it was off to Amherst and the two firehouses there. The first one we visited was the North Fire Station, located a few miles from the town center. While this building looks pretty modern, it was way ahead of its time when it was officially opened in December of 1975. It has its own gas pump outside, and plenty of large bays for the trucks. There is a great page on the history of the firehouse at www.amherstma.gov/index.aspx?NID=13 which I thought was pretty interesting. Bonus with this location is that I was able to get photos of a few of the trucks to make my nephew happy.

Truck photos for the nephew!

 




   We then headed out to the Central Station on North Pleasant Street. It has a very short driveway, so I can only imagine that when the trucks come out of the garage they have to start slowly, as about 30 feet later they are on the main drag of the town, usually into heavy traffic. I would have loved to shoot this one with the trucks all visible, but it was the luck of the traffic gods that I was able to get a clear shot of the firehouse. 

     From Amherst, we were then off to the town of Hadley, with a quick stop to the UMASS Sunwheel on the way. After a quick tour around the stone circle (yes you guessed it, another free thing to do in Western Mass), we headed down Route 9 to East Street and the firehouse there. I wished I had gone into the firehouse itself, as I belatedly realized the next day that the Chief, whom I haven't met, Mike Spankenbel, was "kin" to me after he married my cousin Jessie. Next time I will have to stop in and introduce myself. The East Street firehouse is also fairly new by New England standards, being built in 1996.

After the Hadley firehouse, we stopped along the back roads to take photos of the Connecticut River along the dike. Yes, you guessed it, another free thing to do in Western Mass. There is a very small parking area along the "elbow" of North Lane, where you can park and walk along the dike a little ways on the river line. The water was beautiful that day.
 

Later on in the evening, I headed over to the town of Easthampton to self-indulge in pizza and a movie, and along the way visited the firehouse there. The town firehouse is located on Payson Avenue, which I had to bypass a couple of times as I kept thinking the firehouse was still on its old location on Union Street. After a little aggravation on my end, I spotted the large radio tower on Payson, and thought "Bingo!" it must be on Payson Ave. Luckily it was as I was about ready to be on the receiving end of some road rage after slowing down and speeding up Union Street a couple of times in both directions. A cool notation here-the firehouse bell from the original location is outside this firehouse. It is nice to know that someone preserved this history.

 
  All in all, it was a long day of traveling in a small part of Hampshire County, with the stops we made in locations besides the firehouses, but it was a nice start to the project. Stay tuned for more next week, as the rest of the week the forecast isn't looking optimal for photo shooting.

The Beginnings of an Idea

     I have been saying to friends and family for a couple of months now that I really want to get back into shooting photos, putting myself behind the camera is where I am truly content, rather than in front of the camera. I have decided on a project for the summer, however I think I am being ambitious by stating it is a "summer project", as I know it will take me into the fall to complete it. 

     I have a true admiration and appreciation for those who place themselves on the line every day when they go to work, never knowing what a call will bring them. My appreciation has grown exponentially stronger in the last decade or so of course. The horrific events of the Worcester warehouse fire, where six lives were lost, the events on 9/11, where we lost three hundred and forty three, and most recently, the Boston brownstone fire, where we lost two firefighters, bring home to me the importance and perils that the job entails. 

     My project seemed simple in the beginning planning stages, simply to photograph all the firehouses in Western Massachusetts. I thought it would be great to put it into a book format, with the idea of giving a copy to my young nephew, aged 2, who thinks that all trucks, especially fire trucks, are in his words "Awesome!". As I talked about the project with a few close friends though, immediately questions came up as to how detailed or specific the parameters should be. Should I photograph only those "active" firehouses? How many should I represent from each town? Some towns in the area are obviously smaller, with one firehouse, but some of the larger cities, such as Springfield, have multiple firehouses. But then the bigger question arose, one that would also require some in-depth research, do I photograph those firehouses that have been repurposed into other uses? Many of the older firehouses in the area have been "decomissisioned" or sold, and are now homes and businesses. What to do about this?  More importantly, should the photos themselves just be of the firehouses or the people who live and work in them on a daily basis? How can I properly document firehouses without including those who serve them? These are all questions that I have struggled with for the past month or so, and realizing that this project is getting even more detailed than I originally wanted it to be is overwhelming.  However, I finally came to some conclusions.

    I need to photograph every active firehouse in every town. This is non negotiable.  It would not be right or a true accounting to exclude some firehouses in the larger cities where there are multiple locations. If possible, I need to photograph those working in them as well. It would be great to be able to get photos from the top commands to the probies of the houses, but the reality of the situation is, fires happen, and there are no guarantees that they will actually be at the firehouse when I am there.  Of course, I need to shoot the trucks in the firehouses, if only to keep this interesting to my nephew!  I won't search out those firehouses that have been decomissioned, but if I happen to come across them in my travels, so be it. I'm sure some of the veterans of the firehouses know those previous locations in their towns, if I get any leads, I will act on them, otherwise, its another project to work on after this one is completed. 

   I am getting excited about this new journey. As I go, I will update and post photos online here so that this project can be shared.