Mass. Man's Path to Firefighting Took Many Turns

PEABODY — Dan Barrasso was 4 years old in 1973 when Chelsea was engulfed in a historic fire. From his back porch he heard the sirens and shouts and saw the sky blazing. “Flames shot up 50 feet in the air,” he remembers. It might have been scary for a small child, but it made an indelible impression.

“I fell in love with the fire department,” says Barrasso. There and then he resolved to become a firefighter even if took 50 years to do it. Which it nearly did. “I lot of people would have given up. But I didn’t.”

Barrasso was named a Peabody firefighter at the age of 47. It’s a distinction gained, though at times it seemed all the world was against it. But the goal was so important he actually joined the Navy and went to war in part to obtain the preference that goes to veterans.

He outlines the long journey while sitting in his Peabody sunroom alongside wife, Trisha, an officer for U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The couple has two daughters in Peabody schools. His troubles began at age 12.

“His father packed up the whole family,” says Trisha, “and brought them back to Italy.”

He found himself in Avellino, near Naples, speaking little Italian, trying to understand a culture that played soccer and never heard of baseball or street hockey. “Nothing has been easy for me,” he says. “People made fun of you. Laughed at you.” In the six years that followed he mastered the language, but never doubted his future.

“Yes, they have firefighters in Italy. But I’m an American. I knew the day I landed that I wasn’t going to stay.”

In 1980 he found himself in Everett, with little family support, no high school diploma and few resources. An effort to join the Army was blocked because he lacked a degree. He got a job slicing meat while studying on his own for a GED. That led to a course in heating and air conditioning. “A wonderful trade,” he says. “I got very good at it.” It would prove invaluable.

Yet his ambition to be a firefighter burned even as it was blocked by a stream of veterans hired over him. The married Barrasso finally joined the Naval Reserve, just weeks before Sept. 11, 2001. He was conscious of the advantage it would bring next time he applied to the department and he did it with his wife’s support.

Yes, he’s had hardships, Barrasso says, but when it comes to Trisha, “I’ve been lucky.”

“We support each other,” says Tricia.

“And my daughters, they’re proud of me.”

As a Seabee, “Our motto is ‘We build. We fight.’ We go all over the world to help others.” Not unlike the fire department, he points out. While based locally, in 2008 his unit went to Iraq, a post on the Euphrates River. In the sweltering heat his air-conditioning skills were treasured. Rising to the rank of chief petty officer, he won a citation from the Marines noting he kept “innocent Americans” and Iraqis safe from hazards. Similarly, he was earlier cited for tearing off his gas mask during a training exercise to resuscitate a trainee gone into convulsions. He saved her before going down himself.

His popularity in Iraq gave access to the Internet. He spoke to Trisha and the girls three times a week. “He was a very wanted person out there,” she smiles. “He kept everyone cool and comfortable.”

He was made aware of the dangers. “Our base came under rocket attack.” And he will expect danger in his new assignment. “You wouldn’t be human if you weren’t afraid,” he says. “Fear keeps you alive. Panic is when you die.”

Nor, as a firefighter, is he daunted by the years. “Age is a number. It’s the heart of a person that’s going to drive that person to be successful.” He is headed next for the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy.

The Barrassos’ front yard salutes the country with a flag pole and flag as well as a small statue of a soldier. Having been torn away from America as boy, Dan seems to understand better than most his country’s virtues and the advantages of service. “It’s honorable to wear the uniform,” he says. “It’s honorable to serve the country. It’s honorable to help others. And to serve here in Peabody means so much.”

Also newly named to the department are new firefighters John Brophy III, Michael Coleman, Todd Croce, Joseph Javery and Joseph Morgan.

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