NORTH SMITHFIELD – In his time working in North Smithfield fire service, Deputy Chief Thomas Dybala has seen the job change, from an era where two mostly volunteer village departments responded to fires both large and small, to the modern age, where a busy, professional staff must keep up with the latest medical protocol.
He’s served under seven chiefs, and held varying positions as he worked his way up through the ranks.
And now, he says, it is time to call it quits.
Dybala will retire this month after a 45 year career in town, leaving behind the daily stress of high stakes emergencies to relax and spend time outdoors. He says he’ll miss “the excitement of the job and helping people,” and the challenge of always working toward the best possible outcome through difficult circumstances.
Growing up in Woonsocket, Dybala said his desire to join the profession began around age 12, when he would listen to the local activity on a scanner radio.
“It’s something I was always interested in,” he said.
He was just 17 when a massive fire consumed the Stamina Mill in 1977, but can still recall that Columbus Day weekend, when a blaze ripped through the manufacturing complex on School Street. He joined the department as a volunteer just five months later, in March of 1978.
Dybala was hired full time by North Smithfield Fire & Rescue in 1980, moving over to what at the time was a separate Primrose department in 1982.
At the time, “there were plenty of volunteers in both departments,” he recalled.
He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant in 1986, the same year he married wife Robin and the couple moved to a home on North Main Street. He would return to North Smithfield from Primrose in 1987.
By the 1990s, when Dybala obtained the rank of captain, each station had a paid staff of nine, and volunteers were becoming more scare. The two departments merged in 2002 to form what we now know as North Smithfield Fire & Rescue Service, Inc., and the volunteers were completely phased out soon after.
Of the thousands of calls Dybala has answered through the years one that stands out was early on in his career in 1981, when a contractor working on a sewer project on Great Road had a heart attack in the construction trailer.
“There were only two of us on the call,” Dybala recalled.
His department wouldn’t implement full cardiac training until the following year, but the pair responded quickly, and the patient ultimately survived.
The deputy chief also recalled the Stillwater Mill Fire in Smithfield in 1984, where the response from Primrose would earn the department a citation from the neighboring town.
“That one progressed very fast,” he said of the blaze.
Dybala survived the district’s era of the 56 hour work week, with its 24 hour shifts, and would later be named deputy chief in 2018.
He also worked through the Covid era, responding to calls in full hazmat suits.
“It was chaotic at the hospitals,” he recalled. “Everything had to be deconed. It was stressful because we didn’t know what was going on.”
Dybala said the biggest changes over his years of service is the number of calls that come in and the type – which are now more than 80 percent medical.
“The call volume has gone up tremendously,” he said, noting staff will often respond to three or four calls over a single night shift.
The job has also become more complex, with more focus on emergency medical services.
“It’s probably more challenging on the medical side,” he said.
He said the families of firefighters deserve credit for their sacrifice, noting he’s grateful for Robin and her patience through the years.
“They put up with our schedule – working nights, holidays… leaving at a moment’s notice,” Dybala said. “That’s something that should be recognized more.”
It’s a demanding profession that has now become a tradition for the Dybala family. The couple’s two sons, Lt. Nicholas Dybala and Pvt. Andrew Dybala, both work for the Woonsocket Fire Department.
Now age 65, the deputy chief will have his last official day of work on Saturday, Sept. 20, and said his plan is to enjoy retirement, spending more time outdoors on hobbies including hiking and kayaking, and traveling.
“I’ve worked my years,” he said. “It’s time to call it a career.”
