Video: Grafton Fire Chief Gauthier escorted home by fire trucks

The night was lit up with the flashing lights of fire trucks.

All the fire trucks, standing by. 

It was 5 p.m. on Friday, December 31, 2021, and Fire Chief Micky Gauthier was signing off for the last time after 49 years of service to the Grafton Fire Department. Signing off from the front seat of a fire truck, a place that was practically his second home.

“Thank you for your service to the residents of the town of Grafton,” the radio crackled. “We all wish you the best of luck, good health and a happy retirement. Congratulations, Chief. Fire alarm is clear at 17:15.”

Fire service is a brotherhood, and the family ties are especially strong for Gauthier, who joined his father, Phil Gauthier, as an on-call firefighter on January 1, 1973. Eighteen years after his father retired as chief, the younger Gauthier took over the department.

Gauthier is now the last of Grafton’s on-call fire chiefs, and filling his boots has proven to be a difficult job. A fire department study called for his replacement to be the town’s first full-time fire chief — Gauthier balances his role as chief with his job at Republic Plumbing — and after a lengthy search, the town’s offer to Glastonbury Fire Chief Michael Thurz was rejected.

The town is now restarting its search with a new committee, with Fire Captain Paul Cournoyer taking over as interim chief until a replacement can be found.

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