A Family Affair Firefighting Legacies by Michael Valliant People have all kinds of reasons for becoming volunteer firefighters. Family is high on the list. Fathers who are or were firefighters, kids growing up at and around fire stations and wanting to do what they see everyone else doing. In the case of volunteer fire departments, raising the next generation of first responders, firefighters, EMTs and paramedics is frequently a family affair.
For Bill Keswick, it was watching his father (Bill Sr.) at the Queensbury Central Volunteer Fire Company in New York. Bill joined the department when he was 18, in 1992. “My first real jungle gym was the old ladder truck,” Bill said. “Our whole family would be part of things at the fire station ~ from being in parades, the ladies auxiliary would be helping out, to becoming a junior firefighter.”
Three generations of Keswick firefighters: from left, Bill Keswick Sr., Margaret Keswick and Bill Keswick Jr. 51