The fire dispatcher, who takes the call when your house is on fire and directs firefighters to the scene, is never seen by the public, but holds a key job.
“He’s the man behind the curtain, like the Wizard of Oz,” said Fire Chief James McDonald. “They experience the same tension we do, between the phone callers and dispatching the apparatus, they are under lots of stress.”
One person who has proved his worth under those circumstances has retired from the department after 25 years.
Richard Cutts, 65, fielded his last call Friday as fire alarm supervisor at the dispatch center on Baldwin Street.
While he worked as a hotel manager in his early 20s, his ambition was to join the Fire Department. He took the civil service exam and began his second career as a fire alarm operator in 1993.