OBSERVER Photo by M.J. Stafford A Buffalo Fire Department bagpiper “pipes out” Dunkirk Fire Chief Michael Edwards Friday afternoon after his final shift. Edwards retired after 39 years of service.

Well over 100 spectators crowded the Eagle Street fire hall in Dunkirk Friday afternoon to congratulate city Fire Chief Michael Edwards on his retirement.

“By the way, we are over-occupant here,” the firefighter for 39 years cracked at one point, drawing laughter. Dunkirk’s fire chief since 2015 did his job to the very end.

The ceremonies began with Edwards’ last call, radioed into the fire station. “Going out of service one last time,” he said to his fellow firefighters. “I appreciate everything you guys do for us. Stay safe.”

A radio message from the Dunkirk Fire Department followed, thanking Edwards for his decades of service and wishing him well in retirement.

Edwards then walked into the station with longtime associate Capt. Gary Katta, standing behind as Katta went to a microphone. “What a great crowd,” Katta commented.

Katta said Edwards “was a fire chief and a leader but was also one of the guys… Fire service and the Dunkirk Fire Department have been his passion his entire life.”

Katta noted, as Edwards later did in his own remarks, that the retiring chief sparked his passion for firefighting at that very station. Edwards spent childhood summers on nearby Pelican Street and often wandered into the nearby fire station. Some of the firefighters took him under wing – and eventually, in November 1985, Edwards became a volunteer firefighter himself.

Katta said Edwards rose to captain of Hose Co. No. 1 in 1988, assistant volunteer chief in 1990 and volunteer chief in 1992. Hired as a career firefighter in 2001,“In some ways it seemed like he was starting over again but he quickly worked his way up,” Katta said.

Edwards wound up making lieutenant, then became a captain in 2014, then fire chief in 2015.

“He’s like a brother to me,” Katta said. “We worked together nearly 31 years” and discussed many things, both work related and not. “I’ll miss it.”

Dunkirk Mayor Kate Wdowiasz and a representative for Gov. Kathy Hochul then offered brief remarks. Wdowiasz said the day was “Chief Michael Edwards Day” in Dunkirk.

Wdowiasz said Edwards was a “mentor, leader, friend to many in our department and beyond.” He “consistently exemplifies what it means to serve with honor and service,” the mayor added.

Noah Gutman, the Chautauqua County EMS coordinator, Patrick Ossman of IFF Local 616, and Edwards’ son Devon also spoke.

The ceremony was interrupted for a medical services call just before Edwards took the microphone. “It is a fire station, you know,” he pointed out.

“Thank you all for coming. This is overwhelming,” he began. “I want to make this about everyone who’s been around the department for the nearly 50 years I’ve been around it,” as well as the entire community he served.

Edwards went on about memories of the fire station, colorful nicknames of past firefighters, and fighting his first fire. He thanked just about everyone possible – fellow firefighters both in Dunkirk and beyond, other city workers, Chautauqua County EMS, and his family were on the long list.

After Edwards made his speech, the ceremony came to a climax with a “piping out.” The Buffalo Fire Department offered a bagpiper for the occasion. He led Edwards out the front door of the station as fire department members saluted the retiring chief in the driveway.

Edwards then hugged family and friends, his first act of a well-deserved retirement.