SKOWHEGAN — “We don’t want you to be afraid about fire,” Firefighter Rick would tell kids.
“Fire is a good thing. It’s a tool. And there’s good fires, and there’s bad fires,” he said.
Screeching smoke alarms? “These are our friends,” he would say to those scared and covering their ears.
Have a plan, know two ways out of your bedroom and designate a spot to meet outside. Crawl on your hands and knees to stay out of the smoke.
Those were the basics of the fire safety lessons that Capt. Rick Caldwell of the Skowhegan Fire Department — known to most as “Firefighter Rick” — taught thousands of children and adults over the last three decades.
Caldwell, 65, of Solon, has decided it’s time to retire after 31 years with the department.
“It just felt right,” Caldwell said Thursday morning, a few hours into his final day on the job, as he chatted with colleagues and sipped coffee.
It was a normal day so far, Caldwell said, as his fellow firefighters were on a call in Cornville. Once he is officially done, things may feel a little different, he said.
Thursday was his last 24-hour run on the C-shift as a full-time firefighter. A celebration was planned throughout the day Friday, with the public welcome at the fire station from 1-3 p.m.
Fire Chief Ryan Johnston expected hundreds to attend to congratulate Caldwell. Poland’s Bus Service plans to shuttle students and others across town from the Margaret Chase Smith Community School.
Johnston also honored Caldwell at Monday night’s annual town meeting. The crowd of about 150, who showed up to hash out the year’s municipal business, gave Caldwell two standing ovations.
True to his humble nature, Caldwell spoke briefly, simply giving his thanks to the townspeople for allowing him to be part of their community.
A clean-shaven, glasses-wearing man of short stature, who sports a seemingly constant smile, Caldwell is a well-known face in town and around Somerset County, thanks to the three decades he spent leading the department’s safety and prevention programs.
Caldwell, a self-described local boy from Anson, got his start as a firefighter on his hometown department as a teenager. He saw his older brother and close friend go out on calls and marveled at what they did.
His first passion, though, was teaching, so he went to the University of Maine at Farmington to study elementary education. Caldwell then spent eight years teaching third and fourth grade in Starks.
“Since I was preaching to the kids to believe in dreams and to go after them,” Caldwell said, “I decided to get done teaching one year and explained to the kids I was not coming back because I needed to pursue my dream. I left teaching and started my journey.”
After two years, Caldwell landed a full-time position in Skowhegan. Not long after, his deputy chief at the time had Caldwell take over the department’s fire safety program, he recalled.
“It brought back that nurturing side that I missed from being (in) a classroom,” Caldwell said. “I had the best of both worlds.”
Caldwell did regular presentations for prekindergarten and elementary students at Skowhegan schools. His work schedule allowed him to do the same in Anson, which he said was his way of giving back to where he grew up.
Caldwell also visited with children in Norridgewock, Bingham, Moscow, Athens and Cornville. He helped instruct a health class each year for freshmen at Skowhegan Area High School, spoke with senior citizens about safety issues and taught fire extinguisher trainings, among other programs.
Johnston, who said his own career as a firefighter in central Maine has paralleled Caldwell’s, called Caldwell’s teaching style unique from other safety education programs. Caldwell’s message was always consistent, the chief said.
Johnston credited Caldwell’s outreach as the reason town residents support the department’s efforts so much.
“It’s because of his face” out in the community, he said.
Aside from leading his shift as captain, Caldwell headed the department’s technical rescue team for 29 years and led training for firefighters.
“Your legacy will continue long after the final shift because the firefighters you trained and influenced will carry your example every day with them,” Johnston said in his remarks at town meeting.
Caldwell plans to help transition the safety program, as well as his leadership of the technical rescue team, to other firefighters in the department.
And while he’ll be packing up his office and bunk room — the door to which colleagues jokingly placed an eviction notice a week ago — he also plans to stay on the department’s call force.
“I’m not walking away completely,” Caldwell said.
He said he is looking forward to tackling a list of projects with his identical twin brother, Randy, helping out his neighbors and at his church, playing guitar, flying his remote control planes and being home every night.
Asked what he will remember most from decades in the fire service, Caldwell said it would be the people with whom he worked who helped make a challenging job manageable.
“One really good firefighter doesn’t make a department,” Caldwell said. “It takes every single firefighter working together to make a great department.”
This story was originally published by the Maine Trust for Local News. Jake Freudberg can be reached at jfreudberg@centralmaine.com.