Electrical switch

While many young boys dream of growing up to become police officers or firefighters, two residents are turning those childhood dreams into a reality. And they grew up together.

The McCarthy brothers, Brian, 30, and Stephen, 25, both graduated from the Blue Hills Regional Technical School and had successful careers as electricians, but the lure of public service and the challenges a career in that sector were too strong.

Brian got his first taste of public service when he joined the Avon Fire Department in 2000 as a call firefighter. The experience there succeeded in fanning the flame of his youthful dream.

“I wanted to do something different, more interesting and more challenging,” he said.

An opening in the police department came up first and, after taking the Civil Service exam, he was hired by the Avon Police Department. He began attending the MBTA Police Academy in Quincy in January.

“I was hoping he was going to take that opportunity,” said Karen McCarthy, the boys’ mother, who is the softball and volleyball coach at Avon Middle-High School. “At one time, he wanted to be a policeman.”

For the past six months, Brian has spent five days a week, from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., working toward getting himself ready for his new job. From physical training that includes running up to six miles twice a week, to classroom work in areas such as criminal law and constitutional law, Brian finds it all interesting.

As a child, he said, he always admired the policemen he saw working in Avon.

“I would be riding my bike around town, seeing the cops, looking up to them and thinking that was cool,” he said. “I was thinking it was an awesome job.”

He would like to move up through the ranks to sergeant but, because Avon is a small town, it might take a little while to achieve that goal, he said.

In the mean time, Brian plans to pursue a degree in criminal justice in the fall, ultimately working toward a master’s degree.

“I’ll have to do it part time, so it will take a little longer,” he said.

Brian will graduate at Faneuil Hall in Boston with his classmates from the academy July 13. He then will join the nine other patrolmen at the Avon Police Department.

Stephen also started his career in Avon as a call firefighter, joining the force in 2001.

“I liked it and thought I’d like to do this full time,” he said.

He said he knew the town was going to be looking for a paramedic, so he took that training in 2006. He completed the 18-month course and was hired full time shortly thereafter.

“Part of the job requirements is that (fulltime firefighters) have to be academy trained,” he said.

That meant for the past three months, Stephen has left home at 5:30 a.m. every morning to make the 90-minute drive to the academy in Stowe.

There he, too, has worked on physical training and character qualities such as respect, integrity and honesty.

He also works on getting used to elements of the job, such as handling burning buildings, on the grounds of the academy.

He said big cement buildings are used for fire training. They sometimes hold hay bales or pallets that are set on fire for him and the other 70 students to practice techniques they have learned while putting the blaze out.

Stephen also said he took notice of the firefighters when he was a young boy, many of whom befriended him.

“I grew up around the firehouse,” he said. “I was always curious about what was going on. It always interested me.”

Stephen graduated June 22, and then assumed his duties as one of eight fulltime firefighters in Avon along with the 20 call firefighters also on the force.

“We are very proud of them, with their careers,” Karen said. “I hope it’s a nice move and an enjoyable career.”