By Michael Benavides
Staff Writer
JACKSON – Although volunteer firefighter John Alchevsky, 53, will be stepping down from his leadership position as chief of Jackson’s Cassville Volunteer Fire Company, the longtime member plans to remain involved as a firefighter.
Alchevsky’s family roots in Jackson date to 1962, when his parents came to Cassville from New York City before he was born.
“My folks bought a house in Cassville in 1962 because of the Rova Farms community. I am originally from Manhattan and I spent all of my summers and weekends here in Cassville,” he said.
Alchevesky said Rova Farms was a resort on Cassville Road that was formed in the 1930s by the Russian immigrant community as a Russian-American cultural and social center.
“Many folks, including my parents in 1962 before I was born, bought or built summer homes in the area and it was a rather popular place to be.
“Rova Farms had a lot of events, and functions were held there. Most of the folks of the generation are gone and Rova is closed … I will never forget it, we used to swim in the Rova Farms lake as kids and back then there were no fire hydrants in the area and after every fire call the fire company would have to pull up and refill the truck from the lake.
“There was always a big red fire truck … I saw it was a 1968 GMC and I never forgot the truck. I said that one day I would drive it,” Alchevsky said.
Alchevsky attended the seventh and eighth grades at Jackson’s Clayton Middle School and spent his freshman year at Jackson Memorial High School.
His father died in October 1977 and he and his mother moved back to New York City so she could take care of the family business – an apartment building in Manhattan).
Alchevsky said he joined the Cassville Volunteer Fire Company as a junior firefighter in November 1977.
“Shortly after my father passed, I guess I was looking for some kind of direction. Thirteen is a young age to lose a parent, no doubt,” he said. “I think the fire company gave me a lot of direction. It help put me on a positive path.”
He finished high school in New York and attended technical school, graduating as an auto technician in May 1982. He worked for several auto dealers in New York and in New Jersey.
“After my mom sold the business, I moved permanently back to our home in Cassville. I eventually found my career calling in law enforcement. I started with the New Jersey Department of Corrections in 1985, before retiring as a captain in April 2010,” Alchevsky said.
Alchevsky said it took him some time to really appreciate what being a firefighter was all about.
“I didn’t really look at it from the perspective of helping people at that time (as a younger person). I didn’t really get that until later on in life until I realized that maybe I was doing something good. Even as a kid, I always liked being part of something bigger than myself,” he said.
Alchevsky said one of challenges he had to face during his 11-year run as the fire company’s chief was learning how to maintain a balance between that position and his family, which includes his wife, Ellen, and daughters, Elise, 24, Jenna, 23, and Alexa 20.
“Being a chief in a volunteer fire company is a lot different than being a (professional paid) fire chief … because I have always seen (volunteering) from the perspective as a career firefighter, it’s a job,” Alchevsky said. “Yes, it is a passion, it is what you want to do …
“But for a volunteer firefighter, I find it to be more of a way of life because you take that part of it and and kind of meld it into your entire lifestyle. You just don’t do your eight-, 12- or 24-hour shift (that a professional firefighter would do) and go home. I am home having dinner with the family, or I have a party going on, or we are entertaining or we are out somewhere. The alarm goes off, we go,” Alchevsky said.
Alchevsky said another aspect of his service with the Cassville fire company that he had to learn was how to be a mentor to the younger firefighters in the organization.
“You become a family. As a chief, you tend to find that you start to see yourself as kind of a dad or father figure, or a beacon of light. But the most challenging part of it is that you still have to stay objective and when somebody comes to you with a problem, you have to realize there is always more than one side. There is that person’s side, the other side and the truth somewhere in the middle,” Alchevsky said.
Alchevsky said one aspect of being the person in charge is consoling his men, especially after they have witnessed a tragic event such as a fire or a motor vehicle accident.
“It gets difficult at times, especially when it comes to your younger guys and you experience a pretty traumatic scene, whether it is a serious home fire or a very serious car accident where you are cutting a car open like a sardine can.
“One of the most challenging parts is making the guys realize we are still human. People sometimes put us on a pedestal as superhuman because we run in (to a fire) while everybody else runs out,” Alchevsky said.
He said he offers the following advice to the firefighters who serve in the Casville company: “You can only do so much. Do the best you can, do the best job to the best of your ability.”
Alchevsky said he plans to remain in the fire company as a volunteer firefighter.
“Actually, I am only retiring from a 11-year run (2005-16) as chief officer of Cassville,” he said. “I am a life member of the department, I am going to be returning to the front line as an interior firefighter and an apparatus operator.”
Alchevsky said he appreciates how Jackson’s residents have always supported the Cassville Volunteer Fire Company, and specifically for the support shown during his tenure as chief.
And as for that 1968 firetruck a young Alchevsky saw filling its tank at Rova Farms all those years ago? Well, that was the first firetruck he drove when he joined the Cassville fire company as a young adult.