It’s tough to get firefighters to talk about themselves. Every member of a department knows the critical role that teamwork plays on a fire or accident scene, and no one wants to take personal credit for what was ultimately a group effort. Instead, they talk about the truck, the equipment … anything except themselves.

When three of Gloucester Volunteer Fire and Rescue Squad’s longest serving members got together recently—Lewis Horsley, Bruce Soles, and J.D. Clements—they recalled some highlights of their years serving as volunteer firefighters.Lewis Horsley

Lewis Horsley, a member for 54 years, was 18 years old when he officially joined the department in 1967, but he started putting in time long before that. When Gloucester’s Fire Station 1 first opened in 1951, anyone who wanted to be a firefighter had to live within hearing distance of the siren. Horsley’s family lived on Foster Road, just a mile away, so his dad qualified.

Horsley was just 2 1/2 years old when he went to h...