NORTH ANDOVER — Firefighter David Testa has seen firsthand how one act of kindness can ignite a spark of compassion in others.
The 26-year-old was out with North Andover Fire Department during a recent snow storm, on his way with Engine 2 to a car accident at the intersection of Essex Street and Great Pond Road. As snow fell down, the young firefighter comforted a little boy involved in the crash.
It wasn’t anything heroic, he said, to treat others with kindness and respect when people are at their lowest.
“We typically see people on their worst days,” Testa said. “Whether it’s a medical emergency or a car accident or their house is on fire. Our job is really just to try and improve the situation in any way that we can.”
No one was injured during the accident on Feb. 15. But Testa and the other responding firefighters remained on scene to lend assistance to the mother and son during an evening storm.
Testa extinguished some of the boy’s worries and showed off the inside of the fire truck. He tried to keep the boy warm as his mother handled other matters after the accident.
But the boy was more interested in the tow truck. Testa kneeled next to the little boy as he watched his mother’s car be towed away. The two struck up a conversation about superheroes.
As the two stood out in the snow and cold waiting for the car to be towed away, Testa took off his turncoat and draped it on the boy to keep him warm.
“I was just trying to make that car wreck a little bit easier on his mom and him,” Testa said.
North Andover Fire Deputy Chief Graham Rowe said there’s a national movement in the fire service to develop compassionate, young leaders as “people persons.” The next generation of lieutenants, captains and officers are focusing on the human factor during calls to show compassion and understanding for people in times of crisis.
While firefighters train for emergency operations, fires, car accidents and emergency medical services, a major shift over the years is being there for the people, not just the incident which garnered the emergency response.
“When people call us, they have a problem they can’t solve,” Rowe said.
A “bed-side” manner is stressed in training to understand the people encountered on emergency calls are usually in bad situations and stressed, both Rowe and Testa said. Rowe said 69% of the department’s call volume is EMS-related calls. Compassion goes a long way in responding to those calls, Rowe said.
“Their frustration may not necessarily be directed at you,” Testa said. “It leaves room for compassion in our job to just improve people’s situations in any way that we can.”
Firefighters are also on scenes longer. They comfort families and explain to family members what’s going on. Rowe said that’s what Testa was doing for the family.
Testa, along with firefighter Kevin Lundy, helped an infant suffering from a stroke in 2022. Testa said he holds a special place for children and tries to create positive experiences for them in their interactions with a firefighter. Whether lending a comforting coat or visiting a school with the Fire Department’s educational program, Testa said firefighters have the opportunity to make a scary situation less intimidating for young kids.
“He’s got that compassion already built into him from growing up and can show it to everybody else,” Rowe said. “That’s the training, the mindset we have to continue pursuing and it’s really a movement across the board that we are a people business.”
“You’re being there for someone else,” Rowe said.
“That’s what we are here for.”
Testa said he sees his position as a firefighter as a way to give back to the community where he grew up and attended high school.
While his actions that night were just part of his everyday job, he hopes it inspires people to spread kindness.
“It’s not very difficult to be kind to other people,” Testa said. “Pass it on to somebody else.”