Hijinks were part of job, outgoing deputy fire chief says

By Jim McGaw
Posted 5/26/17

PORTSMOUTH — Michael O’Brien said it’s “kind of funny” how he rose up through ranks of the Portsmouth Fire Department, starting as a young firefighter before making …

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Hijinks were part of job, outgoing deputy fire chief says

Posted

PORTSMOUTH — Michael O’Brien said it’s “kind of funny” how he rose up through ranks of the Portsmouth Fire Department, starting as a young firefighter before making deputy about six years ago.

“I kind of had the reputation in this department as always being in the middle of trouble or causing some kind of grief for my supervisors,” he said of his 20-plus years in the department. “If you ever talked to one of my captains from the past, that was one my favorite pastimes — to make them flip out.”


Deputy Fire Chief Michael O'Brien is moving on.


As an example, Deputy O’Brien shared the story of his battle of the wills with retired Capt. Richard Buckley. 

“I was kind of a pest and Capt. Buckley told me he wasn’t going to acknowledge me one day — I didn’t exist. I took it as a challenge,” he said.

But when lunchtime rolled around and Capt. Buckley was still ignoring him, he started getting concerned. So he decided to go all out.

“While he was eating lunch, I jumped up on top of the table in front of him and was doing this crazy dance, screaming his name as loud as I could at him.”

What did Capt. Buckley do?

“He grabbed his plate and went into the other room.”

Then there was the time when the scary clown myth was born.

“Fifteen years ago we didn’t have dispatchers; the calls came in and somebody sat at the desk,” he said. “So it’s a Sunday afternoon and the guys were all washing their cars and fixing things. I decided I was going to take a nap in one of the chairs; Sundays are slow around here.”

Soon after, someone dressed as a clown in full makeup came to the station, seeking directions for the birthday party for which he was booked.

“He walked by the front desk and there was nobody there,” Deputy O’Brien said. “Then he walked into the day room where I was taking a nap — I was asleep. I woke up to a clown leaning over me. I let out this high-pitch scream because it scared the hell out of me, and the guys came running from all directions. The way they tell the story, I had my fists up and ready to fight.”

From there on out, everyone assumed he was afraid of clowns. 

“The following shift, I went out on an ambulance call at 2 o’clock in the morning and when I got back, I was looking at my bed because it looked like there was something in it. Somebody had brought in a life-sized stuffed clown. It’s been a running gag ever since. 

“Fifteen years later, somebody will send me an e-mail with a scary looking clown face.”

Portsmouth Fire Department

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