Peterborough Fire and Rescue has announced seven emergency responders are celebrating their employment anniversaries during July.

Paramedic Matt Robblee celebrates 14 years of service to the department, and firefighter Michael Ott commemorates a decade of service to the community.

In addition, certified critical care paramedic (CCP-C) Lt. Andrew Mason marks six years of service, and CCP-C Ken Larry commemorates four years with the department.

Emergency Medical Technician Emily Shaw has been with the department seven years. Lastly, Advanced Emergency Medical Technician Nancy Carney and Sarah Tuxbury both celebrate four years of service. 

Fire Chief Ed Walker said department veterans like Robblee and Ott are great assets because they set the example for the younger staff members. 

“It means a lot,” he said. “Having folks with years of experience is valuable because it allows their institutional knowledge to be passed on and shorten the learning curve of our new members.”

According to Walker, the department currently consists of 68 firefighters and emergency service members, and many of them work full-time jobs on top of their part-time duties. Besides Keene’s fire department, which consists of more than 40 full-time employees, Peterborough is the second-largest fire department in the Monadnock region with five full-time paramedics and approximately 38 part-time EMTs and paramedics. 

Despite Peterborough being the second-most staffed department in the region, Walker said he is open to recruiting more. 

“We are always looking for new members to join,” said Walker.