Riverhead Fire Department celebrated another 50-year member this month.
John Kurpetski a member and ex-captain of the Washington Engine Company since 1966 was fêted by fellow vols at a dinner in his honor at fire department headquarters May 11.
Kurpetski, who turned 75 last week, has served under 29 different chiefs of the Riverhead Fire Department. He remains a very active member and hopes to continue to be active “for a while,” he said in an interview.
“The volunteer fire service is a rewarding thing,” he said. “There’s a lot of camaraderie with your fellow firefighters. You support each other.”
The service, he noted, is “open to anybody — you don’t need a sponsor like you did years ago.”
Kurpetski grew up in Bayside, Queens and served in the U.S. Navy for six years. He met his future wife Pat, a Riverhead girl, in Nov. 1963 while he was still in the service. They married on May 30, 1965.
A photographer in the Navy, Kurpetski went on reconnaissance missions over Cuba, photographing the island.
“You could see they were clearing the ground for missle sites,” he recalled. “We
photographed every ship going in and out.”
After his discharge, he went to work as a photographer for The News-Review, before joining the police force in 1966, the year he joined RFD.
Kurpetski remembers a propane tank car fire on the railroad tracks near Mill Road.
“The tank ruptured and caught fire. It exploded,” he said.
“We were there for quite some time. We couldn’t actually put it out. We just had to let it burn off,” he recalled. He was on a midnight shift with the police department at the time, and was on the scene of the fire with RFD for hours.
“The police department came down and got me,” he recalled. “They put me on a traffic post at Kroemer Avenue” where West Main Street was closed down because of the tanker car fire to the east. He stood there directing traffic till morning.
Serving in the Navy, on the police force and in the fire department were all a way of giving back to his country and his community, he said.
“And my wife always liked men in uniform.”
The survival of local journalism depends on your support.
We are a small family-owned operation. You rely on us to stay informed, and we depend on you to make our work possible. Just a few dollars can help us continue to bring this important service to our community.
Support RiverheadLOCAL today.
