BARRY’S BAY – The Madawaska Valley Fire Department honoured three of its own in a retirement party on February 19.
Conrad Cybulski, Freddie Cybulski and Frank Dombroskie are retiring after years of service with the MV Fire Department. Between the three of them, they have 109 years of firefighting experience.
“It was a volunteer fire department when I started,” commented Frank Dombroskie in conversation with the Valley Gazette. “They were short of guys, so I joined in.”
Dombroskie has 32 years of experience under his belt, having started in the early 1980s.
“When I first joined, it cost me $325 to buy my gear,” he said. “It was obsolete by the time I paid it out, and it took three years to pay it out.”
But, he admits, “Everything has changed so much.”
“We had no radios or communications whatsoever,” continued Dombroskie. “Someone just called you…they had a list.”
And if you weren’t there to pick up the phone, they’d simply throw on the sirens on the fire truck to get your attention.
Get your February 25, 2015 edition of The Valley Gazette to read the full story.