A firefighter’s dream comes true in Milford

Meggan Clark , Register Staff 10/04/2004

MILFORD — What do you do when your dream eludes you for eight years? Peter Phelen knows: Live, love, and keep your eyes on the prize. Phelan was a teenager when he started dreaming about being a firefighter. Eight years and countless tests, interviews and physicals across the state, he was a married father of two when he got the call from the department he regards as one of the best: You’re hired. "I think she might have been happier than me when she found out," Phelen said of his wife, Stacey. Until he was became one of three members of the highly selective Milford Fire Department’s Class of 2004, Phelen worked for a West Haven company installing granite and marble countertops. He had dreamed of being a firefighter since before he met his wife, but the extremely competitive process — where only about 20 in 400 applicants ever meet Milford’s interviewers — had cast him a hand of spades. Phelen kept trying, spending his weekends applying, doing oral boards and physical tests at departments across the state. Each time he didn’t quite make it, but was told he did well, he says. Phelen was at work when his cell phone started ringing incessantly. Finally, he went outside and checked it. His wife. He thought maybe one of his boys — Owen, 4, and Ethan, 1 — was sick. Phelen’s wife had checked the answering machine. "When I got the call, I was grinning from ear to ear," he said. "It’s like the lottery, getting the job." In celebration, Phelen, 27, took his wife and boys out for dinner. "It’s just exciting," he said, of finally realizing his dream. "It’s challenging, exciting, to be able to help someone." Phelen joins Gavin O’Brien, 40, and Jeff Luciano, 22, as Milford’s new recruits. The three men come from diverse backgrounds, but they have one thing in common: they dreamed of being firefighters, and they wanted it enough to work for it. O’Brien, the husband of Beth and father of Laura, 11, and Sarah, 5, had a first career as an accountant and a second career as a Milford mailman before joining the department. Almost four years ago, he decided he wanted more purpose in his life and started working on his EMT certification, a requirement for anyone seeking to be a Milford firefighter. "I was looking for something with more meaning in my life," said O’Brien, who says he always wanted to "make a difference and give back to the community." "I’d been thinking about it for a number of years," he said. When he found out he’d been hired, like Phelen, he celebrated with dinner with his family. "I was ecstatic," he said. "I look forward to being a part of the team here. It’s a real-life dream." He believes his fellow postal workers may have learned something from his career change, that it’s never too late to do what you want to do. The youngest new member, Luciano, didn’t have an eight-year wait or a first and second career before joining the department. He did, however, go after his goal with guns blazing. His cousin and grandfather were Bridgeport firefighters, and Luciano was introduced to the profession in high school, when his relatives started asking him what he wanted to do with his life. He got to know some firefighters, and decided he did know what he wanted to do with his life, after all. "The thing I liked about it, really the most, was the idea of the camaraderie between the guys," he says. Luciano went to college at Central Connecticut State University, but decided to leave after 2½ years to actively pursue his goal. He earned his EMT certification, applied to Bridgeport, Fairfield, Stratford and Milford, and worked for a Stratford construction company while he waited, taking tests on the weekends. "It’s just the greatest job in the world," he explains. "There’s no job like it in the world." The three bright-eyed recruits head to the fire academy today, after two weeks with Capt. Richard Mohr, the department’s training officer. As Mohr has made clear to the men, they are not out of the woods yet. The testing, oral boards, physicals, psychological testing and background checks may be behind them, but Milford has been known to tell recruits not to bother attending graduation if they don’t pay attention at the academy. "We send the guys prepared for the academy," says Mohr, who has personally introduced the three men to everything from breathing apparatus to water rescues. "My guys are so far ahead." Mohr, who just celebrated 30 years with the department, remains as enthusiastic about his profession as his new recruits. "This is not a job," he says. "It’s a way of life. This is a second family."

©New Haven Register 2004