Veteran fire chief to retire, head for the slopes

Manchester – Slopes and surf.

That's where Fire Chief Joseph Kane is headed when he gives up his title Dec. 1.

Kane, 58, is retiring after 13 years in the top job and 36 years at the department.

An expert skier and avid sailor, he doesn't envision a retirement spent on the couch - remote control in hand.

"I have a full plate right now and a lot of opportunities," Kane said, "but right now, I'm just going to go skiing."

The job he'll leave behind has been with him all his life. Kane smiles out from a photo on his desk, waving to the camera while sitting in a fire truck and wearing a Cub Scout uniform.

"I'm a second-generation firefighter. I took my father's badge, and now he has his badge, Kane said, pointing to firefighter Corey Joy, his nephew.

"He told me I still have to call him chief, which is kind of weird," Joy said with a laugh yesterday during a tour of the city's main station downtown.

Blood or not, firefighting remains a family affair, Kane said, and that's what he'll miss most.

"It's the people. The people I work with and the people of the city," he said. "But I'm not going anywhere, I intend there to be a smooth transition."

Manchester's charter calls for the mayor to recommend a fire chief to aldermen.

Yesterday, Mayor Frank Guinta said he doubts he'll bring a name forward before Kane leaves. because he got only three weeks' notice.

Kane said he won't make a recommendation to Guinta beyond keeping the job in-house. "We've got a lot of well-qualified people, and I think the job should stay within this department."

Guinta said his focus will be on getting the best possible candidate. "It could be someone inside," he said, "and it's possible that it could be someone from the outside."

Lots of memories

Looking through photo albums in his office yesterday, Kane stopped at a shot of his being sworn in for his first day on the job.

He said that lean, dark-haired young man didn't dream of one day becoming fire chief. He just wanted to do a decent job at Engine 10. Kane quickly moved on to the Fire Prevention Bureau, and in 1983 was named its chief officer. He made deputy chief in 1990 before being tapped to replace Robert DeCotis.

In rescue work, the most vivid memories are often unpleasant.

"The ones that involve children and children's deaths stand out," Kane said. "It's such a tragedy."

He remembers Dec. 20, 1984. That's the day he was first on the scene at 398-400 Merrimack St. and the day that 3 1„2-year-old William Koyianis died of smoke inhalation.

A front-page photo in the Union Leader the next day shows Kane standing beside a distraught Laurie Bilodeau, the boy's mother.

"I was driving by and I saw the smoke," Kane said. "The fire was blowing right out of the windows."

That fire started with a Christmas tree, and Kane said the holiday season remains the most dangerous because families bring so many flammables inside.

Another blaze that stays with him is the Walter Green arson case. In a jealous rage, Green strangled his former girlfriend's two girls on New Year's Eve 1987, then set their Titus Street home on fire.

"That was just, you know ...," said Kane, his voice trailing off. "That touches a real nerve. I was the investigator on that thing."

Decades of change

Arson investigations played a big part in Kane's career.

He was for years the department's unofficial crime scene photographer, snapping shots for evidence and documentation - even shooting crowds outside fires in hopes of catching a fire bug admiring his work.

The work within the department has changed radically over nearly four decades, he said

Computers now pinpoint fires and dispatch trucks, making response time much faster. Construction methods and building codes requiring sprinklers and smoke alarms have made the city safer.

"You don't see the fire deaths that you used to see when I first came on the job," Kane said. "Smoke detectors were nonexistent. They're part of our culture now.

"Fires are down, but, on the other hand, we're a lot busier in regard to rescues, hazardous materials and emergency medical."

The department of about 250 logs nearly 50 calls a day.

In addition to now routinely helping ambulance workers at accident scenes, the department has taken on the post-9/11 lead role for Manchester in emergency response to terrorism.

Given a wish list, Kane said he'd rehabilitate Engine 9 station on Calef Road and build a new Engine 4 station on Hackett Hill.

Moving on

Along with scores of photos, mementoes and awards in his office, Kane prominently displays fire department-related art by his children.

The drawings are dated: Michael is a freshman at Montana State University and Kaitlyn is a sophomore at Derryfield School.

"I've got to thank my family for their support," Kane said, adding that his wife, Nancy, like all firefighter spouses, has had to endure many nights disrupted by emergency calls.

Those nights will soon be in the past. Kane said he'll head straight for Loon Mountain, where for 30 years he's worked part-time on the ski patrol and as an instructor.

"That's what I'm going to be doing starting off," he said, looking off in the distance before adding: "I'll be sailing during the summers."