By Maggie Gordon

The Elsmere Fire Department has a new recruiting technique — a classic rock band.

The band, Playin’ With Fire, consists of five active members of the fire department, as well as one social member, the singer, Kandy Buckley, who is also a paramedic supervisor for the Guilderland Emergency Medical Service.

The other members are: Ned Costigan, a former chief of the fire district; Steve Wright, a past president; Vince Thompson, the current fire captain; Dan Sutherland, a firefighter; and James Reagan, the current assistant chief and also a paramedic supervisor for the Guilderland EMS.

Reagan has been involved with the Guilderland EMS for 19 years, and he has been a member of the Elsmere Fire Department for 30.
"I was interested in the fire department so I joined," he said. "We always have problems recruiting and retaining members, but with this whole band thing we have been able to keep the interest level high."
Wright, a guitarist, is currently the chair of the Albany County Volunteer Recruitment. "We hope to get a little bit of interest from the band," Wright said. "Maybe we can inspire some of the younger kids by showing them that, not only do we have a brotherhood inside the service, but look what else you can do."

Over the last two years, the fire department has developed a policy that limits the membership to 80 people, and it has developed a waiting list — the only one in Albany County, according to Wright.
"It’s not a very long one," Reagan said. "It’s just three or four people, so when someone retires or moves, they fill the spot."
"We’re very fortunate," Wright told The Enterprise. "It’s been a lot of hard work by the membership, and realizing that recruitment is a job for everybody."
Wright has been a member of the fire department for 30 years. "I grew up with it," he said. "My father was a fireman — is still a fireman. He just received his 50 years as a fireman. Last year he was Fireman of the Year for the Delmar Fire Department."

Making the band
"Being a firehouse band, we’ve got the support of the commissioner and we’re able to practice in the firehouse," Reagan said. "Lots of members stop by to listen to us practice, and they tell their friends. It works well for recruitment for volunteer firefighters...It’s kind of fun for people to stop in and listen for a while, and spread the word through the emergency-service circle.
"We’re all older and we all used to be in garage bands," said Reagan, who plays the keyboard.
"I’ve been playing the piano for 45 years," Reagan told The Enterprise. "I just grew up with it. I was taking lessons as a young child. It was a hobby I enjoyed, and I guess I just stuck with it.
"I was in two bands when I was younger, but they were really nothing. We were just fooling around. In years past, when I wasn’t in a band, I had a piano. I got it in an old building and fixed it up," he said, also noting that he now has a baby grand piano.
"Of course, now I have all the electrical stuff," he said with a chuckle. "I made a lot of friends at the music store."

Wright learned to play the guitar when he was in the third grade, after being inspired by the Beatles’ performance on The Ed Sullivan Show. He began taking lessons shortly after, and was involved in garage bands during and after high school.
"I stayed away from music for the last 30 years," Wright said. During that time, he was the president of the fire company for nine years, and raised his children. "Then all of a sudden, Jimmy said ‘why don’t we try to get everyone together"’
"Everybody I’m playing with in the band are all friends...We’ve always known each other played, but we never took the time to sit down and see what we could do together."
"We got together in January and we’ve been practicing ever since," said Reagan.

The band has had a few gigs before, according to Reagan, but its first big show was last Wednesday night at Tawasentha Park.
"The Guilderland Police Chief, James Murley, came to hear us at one of our shows," Reagan said. "Kandy and I work for him, so he insisted they host a show for us and all the town employees who want to come."
The band plays mostly classic rock, according to Reagan, and he said some of his favorite songs to play include "Mustang Sally" and "Magic Carpet Ride."
"We only play one Beatles song now," Wright said. "I would like to do more."

While they are working on preparing some original songs, their sets now consist solely of covers.
"I’m having a lot of fun doing what we’re doing," Wright said. "I never thought I’d be doing it again, other than just for my own pleasure. I’m having a blast."

The band will be playing at the Mad River Bar and Grill tonight, July 28, at 8 o’clock and Thursday, Aug. 11, at 8 p.m.; the Glenmont Fair on Saturday, Aug. 6, at 6:30 p.m.; the Altamont Fair on Wednesday, Aug. 17, at 8 p.m.; and at the Fort Hunter Fire Department on Saturday, Sept. 17, at 6 p.m..