Some of Howard Andersen's colleagues will tell you that the Onset Fire chief can smell a fire before it even starts.

He is just that good.

The chief, who joined the department when he was 15 years old, retired at midnight on Friday, September 6, after 43 years of service — 16 of them as chief.

"No matter what time it was or what kind of call it was, C1 was there," Thomas Joyce, a fellow Onset firefighter, current chief in Marion, and former Wareham Police chief, said of Andersen. "Even if it wasn't an emergency. If someone's basement was flooding or someone had no heat or wasn't feeling well, Howard was there. And that's how a fire chief should be."

Andersen was joined by 300 of his fellow first-responders, family members, and friends for a retirement celebration on Sunday, where all shared well-wishes and memories of the chief's decades long career — one to which he remained steadfastly dedicated, even as he battled cancer in recent years.

"I could spend all evening sharing stories," said Wareham Fire Chief Robert McDuffy. "Together, in our tenure, we've extinguished many fires."

On the forefront of McDuffy's — and many others' minds — was the six-alarm blaze at the former Ocean Spray factory in March, 2010.

"Staring you in the face was the incident of all incidences," McDuffy said, explaining that it was "comforting" to arrive at the scene, with the warehouse overtaken by flames, to a "calm" and "organized" Andersen.

Fellow first-responders recalled Andersen's calm demeanor as he told the firefighters that Onset Water Department officials had advised him that they would soon run out of water.

It took crews more than 15 hours to contain the fire and deem it fully extinguished, but it did not spread to any other buildings in the complex or the surrounding area.

Joyce summed it up well: "I've often said that I would have no problem traveling to hell and back with [Andersen] on my side."

Wareham Police Acting Chief Kevin Walsh spoke of Andersen's immeasurable "heart and dedication," a sentiment echoed by all who spoke of the chief.

And boy, was he dedicated to Onset, as Bourne Chief Martin Greene explained.

Greene recalled a time when he was responding to a call on Route 25, and it wasn't exactly clear where the incident was located.

"I see one State Police cruiser," passed over the town line, and told his crew over the radio that he was "entering Wareham," he said.

It was only a slight mistake, but Greene recalled: "Howie walks up to me and the first thing he said was: 'This is Onset.'"

Andersen is dedicated not only to his village, but to his countless brother and sister first-responders.

"Every time I went to a fire in Bourne, I could count on Chief Andersen being there," explained Charles Klueber, former Bourne Fire chief and current member of the Onset Fire District Prudential Committee.

"He was there even if you didn't call him," Klueber said with a laugh. "He was a firefighter's firefighter."

Andersen, 58, is humble about his years of service.

"It's been a privilege and honor to serve on the Onset Fire Department," he told the packed Wareham Lodge of Elks, explaining that, growing up, he was inspired by his father, who served on the Onset Fire Department and was a lieutenant for Dennis Fire.

"We lived across the street from the fire station, so it was kind of a given that I would be there someday," Andersen noted.

It's a legacy of service that he has passed on to his children. Howard Andersen, Jr., is a captain on Onset Fire. Daughter Nicole Demoura is on the fire department. Daughter Courtney Jones is a nurse and Onset firefighter. Daughter Brittany Andersen is a dispatcher for Bourne Police and on Onset Fire.

You guessed it. Andersen's wife, Terry, is on the department too.

"I want to recognize my family — from my parents to my in-laws," Andersen said. "Without your support, I don't know if I could have done the job that I did."

As Andersen walked away from the mic, a member of the crowd said simply: "That's a hell of a man."

Have a story about Chief Andersen? Share it in the comments! Got a photo of the chief to share? E-mail it to jaime@warehamweek.com!