FARMINGTON – Seven-year-old Anthony Franchetti is a firefighting buff. He talks the talk and walks the walk, rattling off the names of firefighting equipment like most boys his age do with dinosaurs, athletes or Matchbox cars.

On Saturday, the East Wilton youngster was in his element at Unicel’s community celebration in the Mount Blue Shopping Center plaza.

That’s where members of the Wilton Fire Department were, along with Engine No. 7, a large fire truck outfitted with extension ladders, several hoses and a deck-mounted water gun.

“I like firefighters because they get to do a whole bunch of things with fires,” Franchetti said. “They get to go up so high and shoot water out of cannons. I really think firefighting is cool.”

So did Unicel, which honored the Wilton Fire Department as “Hometown Heroes” for its dedication and service to the community.

At noon, 60 minutes into the 3-hour-long community awareness program, Unicel Store Manager Samantha Evans of Waterville, on behalf of Unicel, presented Wilton Deputy Chief Kendall Burdin with a large, framed certificate.

The award recognized the department’s 32 volunteer firefighters and fund-raising efforts that they undertook in their spare time to raise money within a year to purchase necessary and up-to-date equipment.

This included a $25,000 thermal imaging camera, which is used to detect people in smoke-filled rooms or hotspots within the walls, ceilings and floors.

“Their commitment to the community embodies the selfless nature of Hometown Heroes,” Evans said.

Hometown Heroes recognizes the efforts of firefighters and emergency personnel in Wilton and throughout Unicel’s northeast region in Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts and New York, Evans said.

“Wilton Fire Chief Fred Hyde recognized the efforts of the volunteer firefighters in Wilton and nominated the department for its dedication to the community,” she added.

Unicel stores in New England also donated $250 to the department as part of the program, which is new to Maine but not in other states where Unicel stores are located, Evans said.

“At Unicel, we feel privileged to honor the men and women who serve the communities we all cherish by putting their lives on the line every day,” stated Rick O’Connor, regional senior vice president of Unicel, in a press release.

Wearing an oversized Mount Blue High School athletic jersey and a pulled-down cap, Franchetti also felt privileged to be in the presence of firefighters.

While checking out the fire truck, he told Jana Burdin how he knew so much about firefighting.

“I watch a lot of television programs about firefighting. And once, a live firefighter came to my school, the Mallett School in Farmington. And do you know that firefighters have Jaws of Life? That’s for if someone gets stuck in a car crash. They use it on the door flap and split it open and that’s how they get people out of a car,” Franchetti said.

But the youngster was hesitant to say for sure, when asked by a Unicel worker, that he’d be a firefighter when he grew up. Instead, he wanted to be a football player, “maybe professional.”

tkarkos@sunjournal.com

Copy the Story Link