Crime & Safety
Volunteer Firefighter Celebrates 54 Years And Counting
"I started when I was 18," said Carl Lewis. "I just stuck with it."
- Name: Carl Lewis will be 72 in August. He has served as a volunteer firefighter for 54 years. “I started when I was 18,” he said. “I started in Rockaway Neck, 10 years, in Pine Brook, 10 years, and in Montville, 34 years.”
- What Part of Town: Currently Lewis lives on River Road in Montville with his wife of 40 years. The couple has one son and two grandsons, 2 ½ years and 6 months.
- How long Montville: “Basically I have lived in Montville all of my life,” Lewis said, noting that he grew-up in the Rockaway Neck section of Parsippany. “But, that’s right next door.” he explained of the area off of Old Bloomfield Avenue.
- Why the Volunteer Fire Department: “I started out volunteering when I was young. My friends were in it,” he said. “I just stuck with it.”
- Career: Lewis is a retired police lieutenant. He served on the Montville Township police squad. “I am what every little boy dreams of being,” said Lewis. “I was a soldier, I was a policeman, and I’m a fireman.”
- Service: During the Vietnam War Lewis was stationed at Ft. Richardson near Anchorage, Alaska. On Good Friday, March 27, 1964, he was on the third floor of his barracks when the largest earthquake to ever hit the North American continent struck. It measured a magnitude of 9.2 and lasted 4 ½ minutes; “the longest duration on record,” he said. Lewis and his colleagues made it out of the building as the interior walls came down. “We stood on the street and watched the building separate and come together again.” When it was over, entire areas of the city lay sunken in ruins, while others were twisted upward several meters. More than 130 people died, most of them from tsunamis that hit Alaska. Tsunamis also hit Hawaii and Japan, as well as the west coast of Canada and the United States. Movement related to the earthquake was reported from points around the globe. “You don’t expect it to be that severe, but it hits fast and right away you know it’s not the average.”
- Most Rewarding: “It’s personal reward,” said Lewis of being a volunteer firefighter. “Most of the guys will tell you that. Just giving and doing things. Helping people. This has to be done by somebody and these are the people who do it.”
- Most Difficult: “It gets harder and harder getting out of bed; I’m talking at 2 or 3 o’clock in the morning,” noted Lewis. “Or getting into bed. Inclement weather. The types of calls we get.”
- Most Memorable Thing: The growth of the town is one thing that Lewis finds dismaying. “It came from being really rural, to saturation,” he said. “We’re at saturation.”
- Other Activities: In addition to the Montville Township Volunteer Fire Department, Lewis is involved in “off-shoots of the fire department,” he explained. One unique, state-wide program, for which he serves as secretary, is the Firemen’s Relief Association. “Funds come from every insurance company, not based in New Jersey, who writes fire insurance in New Jersey.” According to Lewis, each company pays a two percent fee. That money is then divided among all New Jersey towns, based on ratables. The funds are used to sustain the New Jersey Firemen’s home and assist the widows of firefighters.
- Hobbies: Playing sports is a passion for Lewis. “I’ve played a lot of sports. I’ve always been very active,” he said.
- Wants Others to Know About Squad: “People should know more about it. They should reach out more, and find out more about it,” Lewis added. “There are always new laws and requirements. It’s not only physical training, there’s mental training by way of education, and required things from the state. It’s very, very involved,” he said of the certification and training firemen annually receive.
- Philosophy: “Just helping people and giving back.”
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