53 years later, this firefighter has answered his last call

POLAND

When David “Chip” Comstock Jr., now chief of the Western Reserve Joint Fire District, first joined the department in 1992, veteran firefighter Anthony “Tony” Sferra warned the rookie, “Don’t get used to me, I’m going to be retiring soon.”

More than two decades later, Sferra has finally made good on that assertion.

Friends, family and colleagues Friday night joined Sferra at the Holy Family Parish Center to celebrate the assistant chief’s retirement from Poland’s fire district after 53 years of service.

Sferra, a Poland resident, first became involved with the department at 17 as a “junior firefighter.” The junior firefighters responded mostly to brush fires and tried to stay out of the way during more serious calls.

“We were more or less gophers,” he said.

Still, the junior firefighters did get to leave classes at Poland Seminary High School when the calls for service went out, Sferra remembered.

He officially joined the fire department in 1968 and, with the exception of two years devoted to active duty with the U.S. Marine Corps, he has served the department continually since then.

Read more about him and his career in Saturday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.