MAYNARD — Maynard Fire Chief Anthony Stowers had been researching ways to reduce firefighter line of duty injuries and deaths for over five years when his wife and daughter helped convince him to ask his doctor about nagging chest pains.
Chief Stowers, long trained as an EMT, didn’t think he had heart issues — his cholesterol isn’t high, he has little family history of heart conditions, and the results of his last stress tests showed no concerns. He had also recently broken his ribs, so he believed the pain was related to that.
“I didn’t think it was a cardiac issue,” Chief Stowers said. “But I went to the hospital and 10 days later left the hospital after having triple-bypass surgery.”
It turns out Chief Stowers was suffering from life-threatening health issues even as he was busy studying ways to prevent such issues from claiming the lives and careers of others in the Fire Service.
“I did my final edits for my doctoral study on reducing firefighter injuries while I was in the hospital being prepped for triple bypass surgery,” Chief Stowers said. “I did this huge research paper and I ignored the signs myself while I was doing research.”
Stowers, who has led the Maynard Fire Department since 2012, completed work toward his Doctorate in Business Administration with a focus on Leadership in December, even as he continued to recover.
Chief Stowers shares news of the achievement, and his own story, to highlight the increasingly technical nature of being a leader in the Fire Service, and to highlight ongoing risks to firefighter health.
Chief Stowers earned his doctorate by working with five fire departments in Massachusetts and New Hampshire and examining how they work to reduce the impact of firefighter injuries. The goal of his doctoral study was to identify recommendations that other fire service leaders can use to help reduce injuries.
“The process was arduous and took longer than I had hoped, but it is gratifying to finish,” said Chief Stowers. “The program itself involves high-level business and ethics-related classroom work that transitions into writing a doctoral study.”
Chief Stowers was a construction worker as a young man, but followed his father — who retired in 2003 as fire chief in Derry, New Hampshire — into work with the Fire Service. He joined the former East Derry Fire Department in New Hampshire before it merged with the Derry Fire Department. Chief Stowers then began working in 1996 as a full-time firefighter in Nashua, where he rose to the rank of lieutenant. He then became a deputy chief with the Merrimack Fire Department and earned a promotion to assistant chief before being hired as chief in Maynard in 2012.
“There’s a lot of science behind it, and I don’t think a lot of people realize how much book work there is, even in basic levels of firefighter training,” said Chief Stowers. “It was an eye-opening experience for me as I rose through the fire service.”
He was 39 when he earned a Bachelor of Science in Fire and Emergency Management from Granite State College. He also has a Masters of Science in Organizational Leadership from Southern New Hampshire University.
“At first I liked the physical nature of the fire service. At the entry level, it’s not an office job. You ride on a truck and do hands-on things. But as you rise through the ranks you realize there’s more to it than the physical aspect, so your goals change and your drive moves in different directions,” Chief Stowers said. “As you climb the ranks it becomes more about leadership, management, and budgets. When I started this job 34 years ago, I never would have thought I’d spend 40 hours writing a grant application or strategic plan.”
The research conducted by Chief Stowers for his doctorate revealed that improved overall physical fitness among firefighters could reduce many injuries, and that administrative leaders and labor leaders must work together to get all firefighters to buy into wellness and injury prevention programs.
“The biggest takeaway I got from the research I did was that there needs to be a better relationship between chiefs and labor groups in organizations so we can come up with plans to reduce injuries together,” Chief Stowers said. “Having specific standard operating guidelines and specific policies help, but you need buy in the from rank and file.”
Chief Stowers said data also shows that many firefighters, despite the strenuous nature of their jobs, are overweight or not in the same top physical condition that they were as young men going through the fire academy.
“I think the single biggest thing we can improve is fitness,” Chief Stowers said. “We need to be more active when we’re not active at work, and we need to be active in fitness rooms.”
Many fire departments provide access to fitness equipment and wellness programs, but getting the message across to all firefighters and building interest in using such equipment and programs remains a challenge requiring teamwork between union leaders and administrators.
“It’s a dangerous profession and you’re never going to eliminate all the injuries, but if we can reduce them by 10 or 20 percent, we’re talking hundreds of millions of dollars spent on injuries and a lot of saved lives and careers.”
Stowers noted that annual physicals conducted on firefighters check not just for heart issues, but also for early signs of cancer, which is another big issue among firefighters due to their exposure to toxic gases and materials.
“The best thing we can all do is get checked out every year, and if you experience anything out of the ordinary, you’ve gotta follow up on it,” Chief Stowers said. “A couple years ago the International Association of Fire Chiefs came up with a slogan: ‘If you don’t feel well, don’t make it your farewell.’ I did some soul searching and kicked myself for not recognizing that earlier. Things could have easily gone the other way for me.”
