NATICK. Mass. — A Natick firefighter who hung up his helmet after 30 years with the department is passing the torch to his daughter, a firefighter/EMT.
Tom Reynolds shared a final dinner with his fellow firefighters in the kitchen of the Natick Fire Dept. headquarters Sunday night, with his daughters Jillian and Nicole beside him to celebrate his retirement.
Jillian Reynolds, 26, joined Natick Fire in January 2024, following in her father’s footsteps and embraced by coworkers she has known since she was a child.
“It’s bittersweet. It was a great career, but it’s definitely time to leave and hand it off to the younger generation. I’m a grandfather on the shift now,” Tom Reynolds said. “I’m able to hand the torch over to Jillian now. So, it’s a very proud dad moment.”
Jillian grew up admiring her father and his profession, spending many hours at the firehouse.
“As a kid, I was always super fascinated by my dad’s career,” Jillian told Boston 25 News. “We’d be in elementary school looking around at fire drills to see if he was there, and we were always super excited to say, ‘That’s my dad!’”
Despite the inherent dangers of the job, the elder Reynolds knows his little girl is up to the task.
“It’s great having women in the fire service,” he said. “Jillian is unbelievably capable of her job. And I know that she’s well trained… So, that’s comforting.”
On Sunday, Jillian swapped shifts with another firefighter so she could spend her dad’s last 24-hour shift with him.
The two responded to several emergencies together, and, between calls, snapped pictures in their matching “Reynolds” turnout gear.
“There was one day we were on this truck together,” Jillian recalled of a recent shift with her dad. “I was driving, he was the officer. We had a little fire we put out together. That was kind of a cool moment for us.”
Tom, who joined Natick Fire in 1995 after a short stint at Sherborn Fire Department, has covered every type of call, serving on all four platoons for Natick.
Among the most memorable and somber experiences was being deployed to station coverage in the days after the tragic Worcester Cold Storage warehouse fire in 1999, in which six firefighters lost their lives.
Tom was activated as part of a district task force to cover Worcester’s firehouses as their bodies were recovered.
“The reality is, it’s a very dangerous job,” Tom said. “It’s a great job. Best job in the world.”
Tom is not completely retiring; he will transition to a law enforcement role with Boston University Police.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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