One of the Brighton Area Fire Department’s longest serving firefighters is hanging up his helmet. Captain Larry DeWachter announced his retirement last week after 34 years with the department. DeWachter said it’s bittersweet he’s but ready to move on to new experiences. He was known around the department for his commitment to public education. DeWachter said that it was an incident early in his career when an 8-year-old girl lost her life in a fire that forever changed his life. He said it became his mission at that point to dedicate his life towards public education to hopefully prevent that from ever again happening to another child. DeWachter said its been amazing to see all of the changes in the department and firefighting over his time and how the technology with thermal cameras and hydraulic equipment has made a huge difference. He said it hasn’t made the job necessarily easier, just more technical.