ROCKPORT — Charlie Knight arrived at the Rockport Fire Department July 19, dressed in his firefighter’s uniform for a team photograph in front of the new “Squad 25” firetruck, to be followed by the annual barbeque with his comrades and their families.

What he didn’t know was that there was another item on the evening’s agenda. 

The new firetruck was going to be dedicated to him.

Rockport Fire Chief Jason Peasley was able to pull off the surprise by only letting Knight’s family know, except for his wife, Barbara. They were all by his side during the dedication.

Peasley shared some highlights of Knight’s distinguished career of 42 years with the department.

He joined the department in 1976, became the Assistant Fire Chief in 1998, and then the Deputy Chief the same year. In 2013, he resigned as the Deputy Chief but stayed active with the department as a firefighter.

Peasley and Knight began working together in 2013, when he was hired as the new Fire Chief in Rockport. 

According to the statistics collected by the Chief through the department’s emergency online reporting system, Knight was indeed active with responding to calls 24 hours a day.

There were a total of 967 calls to the department since 2013, with Knight responding to 647 of them, a 67 percent response rate.

“This was an impressive beat, since a lot of those calls came during the early morning hours,” Peasley said. “You help to keep us alive and going, so this truck is yours.”

And then former Rockport Fire Chief, Bruce Woodward, chimed in with his thoughts about Knight’s service to the department and community.

“He can do anything from building a toboggan, reconstructing crash scenes, is a master on nozzles and hoselines, and can fit into any vacant slot, with or without his air pack, on any given day,” Woodward said. “Congratulations, you deserve every bit of this celebration.”

Knight said the dedication was a total surprise and he was pleased.

“You are all one good group of guys,” he added.

But before the grills were fired up for the barbeque, Peasley recognized Lt. Greg Rollins, who was celebrating his birthday that evening. He received a hearty round of applause, but was mum about which birthday it was.

Reach Sarah Shepherd at news@penbaypilot.com