The Markings of a True Hero

What makes a true hero?

That may be difficult to define at times, depending on your point of view, but then there are others among us we recognize easily and label heroes.

Firefighter James Rice is one of those.

, fighting a three-alarm fire at 5 Hancock St. A dozen residents were also left homeless in the blaze at their apartment building.

Rice was 42, a 10-year veteran in the department, a husband and a father of three young children.

, thousands of fellow firefighters and police officers from around the country filled Peabody Square on Dec. 30 to honor their fallen brother. The community turned out en masse as well, paying their respects to a man who died protecting it.

Family, friends and colleagues have remembered Rice as a humble, well-liked guy who loved his family and being a firefighter – a man who gave life his all, no matter what – a true hero.

Rice’s death in the line of duty was also the first in many years for Peabody; the last time a firefighter died was in 2003 when Kevin Lynch, who was off-duty, suffered a fatal heart attack.

In the days following Rice’s death, the community rallied around his family and the , and Rice continues to receive numerous tributes. Earlier this month, he got one more from the local chapter of the American Red Cross.

During its annual Community Heroes Breakfast on March 15, Rice was honored with the Fallen Hero Award, which is usually reserved for local soldiers.

WCVB-TV’s (Channel 5) Susan Wornick, hosting the breakfast, shared Rice’s story with those gathered that morning at the CoCo Key Hotel in Danvers, after welcoming the Peabody Fire Department’s Honor Guard, Amy Rice and her three children: Alyssa (12), Katelyn (9) and Ryan (7). Wornick invited Amy Rice up to accept the award and spoke to the younger Rices as well.

“It was incredible,” said Chris Dowling, who leads up the honor guard and organized the department’s appearance at the event. “We appreciate it…it’s another way the community got together to remember him.”

He said Wornick already knew much of Rice’s story and noted it was a somber mood inside the Boston studio as well that fateful afternoon. Part of the presentation included photos of Rice.

Dowling said even though 2-1/2 months had passed by then, listening to the story was just like reliving it again, but in a “good way.” “The outpouring of support is still there,” he said.

As a fire inspector, Dowling is not usually suited up and rushing into a raging fire or manning a hose line at the scene, but when he does have occasion to get on a truck, he says he thinks about the Hancock Street fire and Rice – he can’t help not to. The searing knowledge that tragedy can and will strike unexpectedly just makes him even more diligent, sharpening his focus.

“I try to check everything. It’s still fresh in our minds, we can’t help but think about it,” he said. “You don’t expect it to happen…not to a good friend like Jimmy.”

“But it did happen and we’re never going to let it happen again,” Dowling said.

In an earlier interview with Peabody Patch, Chief Steven Pasdon outlined some of the ways he’s planning to do that.

Pasdon said he went through a “difficult” federal review process, given the circumstances, of the entire department with NIOSH (The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health), with an eye to “what we can do better every day.”

About 100 firefighters die in the line of duty each year, according to NIOSH; the agency regularly performs independent investigations of those fatal incidents to promote better practices, procedures and equipment within departments.

Pasdon is quick to note no one has found fault with how the department handled the Hancock Street fire nor were there any compliance problems in terms of equipment; however, there are some newer and better things out there.

He said a number of recommendations were made and he will argue for several of them in his budget for Fiscal 2013.

As for the personal toll, it’s just a shock, Pasdon said, adding there is still a heavy sense of sadness and loss through the department.In nearly 30 years of firefighting, he still never expected to face such tragedy in his career – there are layers of safeguards in place to prevent just that.

“We all know this could happen…but we dismiss it as too easy; it’s not going to happen, but it did,” he said. “It just smacked home the reality of how dangerous this job is.”

As for the Rice family, Pasdon says he “admires” Amy Rice for the great strength she’s shown over the past months, especially as she forges ahead now a single parent of three young children. “Not a day goes by [that] I don’t think about it.”

“She makes what I have to do easier,” Pasdon said, referring to the emotional and procedural effort of moving the department forward after experiencing such a great loss. And he has likewise thanked the community for pouring out support to the Rices and firefighters for the past three months.

Rice was actually the best friend of Chris Dowling’s older brother Jay, who is a captain in the department, but they let the younger Dowling tag along, growing up, and he eventually became good friends with Rice as well. They ended up going to the Mass. Fire Academy together, graduating in 2001.

“All these things we did together (sports games, holidays)…it’s a big void without him there,” Dowling said. “It’s obvious when he’s not there and we miss him a lot.”

Peabody Learning Academy Director Seith Bedard also received an award at the Community Heroes Breakfast as a hero in education. Stay tuned for more on that story.