By Gretchen Webster

WESTPORT — Nathaniel Gibbons didn’t plan to become a firefighter, but as the town’s fire marshal retires May 31 he can look back on a career with the Westport Fire Department spanning 27 years.

The lifelong Westport resident’s early interest in fire safety sprang from an unexpected source — television production. 

Post Yale, a job in television production

After graduating from Yale University, Gibbons worked in television production in the early days of the cable television business that became Cablevision. He enjoyed working in that field, he said, but his passion for firefighting was ignited when he made a series of training films for firefighters. “That was the beginning of my career path in firefighting,” Gibbons recalled during a recent interview at Westport Fire Headquarters.

Starting in 1986, Gibbons was a volunteer firefighter in Westport for nine years, and then was hired in 1995 as a career firefighter by the Westport Fire Department. In 2004, he was promoted to fire inspector, and was appointed to the position of fire marshal in 2017. He is retiring Tuesday, May 31.

Recent blaze among most “doggone” memorable

One of the most memorable fires he worked on in his long career was the April 20 fire at the Townhouse for Dogs and Cats, 1040 Post Road East. “We were putting cats and dogs into bags and boxes to carry them out … with cats fighting in the trucks,” he said of the fire’s unusual circumstances, which also forced three people on the building’s second floor to jump to safety. Two dogs died in the fire, but about 50 animals were saved by firefighters.

A series of residential kitchen fires that Gibbons determined were set off by a wiring problem in a particular brand of dishwasher, he said, is an example of how he used fire-detection forensics to determine the source of the blazes. 

Because Westport has many restaurants, Gibbons said, kitchen fires in those businesses also are a common occurrence. Restaurant fires are usually caused by excess grease, he said, expressing pride in the inspection regimen he established for restaurants, which are checked regularly to ensure grease traps are cleaned out properly.

The biggest fire Gibbons worked on as a fire inspector was the blaze that damaged the Saugatuck Congregational Church in 2011, crediting the Norwalk Fire Department with a major role in helping save the historic church. “If they hadn’t cut the roof open right then, we would have lost the church,” he said.

As Westport building sizes, styles evolve, regional firefighting reliance grows

Reliance on neighboring fire departments has become a necessity for the Westport Fire Department, he added, because changes in building sizes and materials have made firefighting here more challenging than when he started his career in the 1980s.

The difference in size and types of structures now being built in Westport is one of those reasons, the fire marshal said. 

Multi-unit apartments buildings require high-rise firefighting strategies, for example, he noted. 

Individual residences also are much larger on average than in past decades, necessitating more fire personnel and equipment to fight a single house fire.

In the 1960s, when many Westport homes were the small Cape style, one firehose was generally sufficient to douse a fire in one room of a home, he said. Now, many Westport homes are much larger, and feature an open-plan design. When a blaze erupts in a single room of such dwellings, for instance a kitchen/family room, two or three firehoses and more firefighters are needed to extinguish the flames.

In addition, contemporary furniture is often made of plastic, which flares up faster than natural materials such as wood, he said. 

“Flashover”— the sudden spread of flames setting a whole room ablaze — can take five minutes or less with plastic materials, much faster than the 15 to 20 minutes in rooms with furniture made from wood or other natural materials, Gibbons explained. “It’s a stunning difference.”

Fewer firefighters are Westporters

Another reason the Westport Fire Department regularly calls on Norwalk, Fairfield and other area fire departments for assistance is that most firefighters can no longer afford to live in Westport, the fire marshal said. 

“Eighty-five percent of [Westport] firefighters used to live in town,” he said. “Fifteen years later, they live in Brookfield, Brookhaven,” and communities farther away. “If it takes 45 minutes to get here,” other departments have to be called in right away to supplement local fire crews when fire alarms are received, he said.

Focus on fire prevention and safety

Gibbons believes the most important part of firefighting today is to ensure regular training of firefighters and update the public about fire-safety strategies.

“Public information and public service are the foundation of firefighting today,” he said.

His successor, Fire Inspector Terrence Dunn Jr., has trained with him in firefighting safety and strategies. Both he and Dunn are co-certified as fire inspectors and building inspectors, which is rare for a fire inspector, Gibbons said, but important when it comes to preventing fires and determining their cause.

Gibbons, 65, is retiring from firefighting, but will continue teaching at Yale, where he instructs a course on the artistic craft of bookbinding. He enjoys working with students, he said, much as he has enjoyed working with newer firefighters and the public in the critical area of fire prevention.

But as much as Gibbons has enjoyed the fire marshal position, he’s ready to move into retirement. “I appreciate the taxpayers of Westport who have given me a career all these years, he said.

First Selectwoman Jennifer Tooker praised “the work Nate has done as fire marshal … [He] has definitely saved lives. His diligence, detailed approach, professionalism and genuine concern for our residents and businesses was apparent in everything he did.”

“Westport is a better and safer community because of Nate,” Tooker added. “On behalf of the Town of Westport, I want to thank Fire Marshal Gibbons for his years of service.”

The fire marshal’s departing words to Westporters, about whom he clearly cares very much, are about personal safety and fire prevention:

• “It’s very important to be aware of your surroundings at all times. Have a Plan B, Plan C and Plan D.”
• “Know where the exits are … it may be a fire or a person with a gun. In this day, you need to be prepared.”
• “Have a home escape plan, especially with children.”

Gretchen Webster is a freelance writer and frequent contributor to Westport Journal. Learn more about us here.