In Lawrence, blazing a trail

There was the time in the 1980s when the mayor of Lawrence, in one of her frequent clashes with the Fire Department, publicly used a crude name to describe firefighters. Then there was the time in the 1990s when 600 striking firefighters came to City Hall to picket for a new contract, and the mayor ignored them as he walked by, smoking a cigar.

Those incidents came at the tail ends of two arson waves that left hundreds of buildings in Lawrence scorched. Those were the days when firefighters battled on two fronts: blazes in the city and mistrust in City Hall

Such stories are now secondhand knowledge to much of the Lawrence Fire Department, where nearly half of the 126 firefighters have been hired in the past 10 years. In that time, the number of fires has fallen and the department has gained the strong support of city managers. According to the National Fire Incident Reporting System, Lawrence firefighters arrive at fire scenes within the recommended six minutes of a call 99.4 percent of the time, one of the best response rates in the state.

But it was bad news that drew attention to the department last November, when two dispatchers were videotaped snorting cocaine and drinking beer. While the scandal made local and national news for nearly a week, it also set a precedent.

''We used to have a history of cleaning our laundry internally," said Lieutenant Sebastian Bongiorno, who retired last month after 32 years at the department. ''But Chief [Joseph] Marquis acted decisively, quickly, rapidly, and gave full access to the media."

Lawrence appears on the cusp of an economic revitalization, while becoming the state's most Latino community. For the mostly white department, the changes mean more work and the challenge of helping residents in a city where Spanish is gaining dominance.

To get a picture of the everyday life of firefighters, a reporter spent a week with them, observing living conditions and emergency calls. These visits found a changing institution in a community where there are fewer fires, but more complex responsibilities.