Jenny Pacillo
Worcester’s own Tommy Jay Dwyer has been in the film industry for years as an actor, writer and director, but he comes from a long line of Worcester Firefighters. His deep connection to the WFD prompted the Last Call Foundation, a nonprofit committed to helping fire fighters, to reach out. “My dad, my uncles and two of my cousins are all on the Worcester Fire Department,” he begins, “They found that I was a filmmaker that also had an interest in the fire department and making sure that these guys get what they deserve. So they reached out and we connected.”
Burnin’ Down the House began as a short film but quickly shifted into a deeper dive on the poor conditions at firehouses. Although these issues are persistent throughout the state, Dwyer and his team are focusing on Worcester, Fall River and Westwood. “As we started to film, the story grew,” Dwyer says, “I went back to them and I said, ‘Hey, look, this is going to be a feature. We have to try and get this into distribution, because this story has to be heard and seen by as many people as we can get to see it.’”
Firefighters typically work over 50 hours a week, with 24 hour shifts that are broken up throughout the week. “These guys are all just like amazing guys,” Dwyer begins, “First of all, none of them ask for anything. That has been, quite frankly, a difficult part of the story to tell, it’s advocating for folks that aren’t used to advocating for themselves. All they care about is the community, the municipalities they work in, the people they’re serving. Meanwhile, they’re in places that are crumbling.” In Worcester for example, the Pleasant Street firehouse dates back to 1873 and is one of the oldest in the state.
Dwyer points out that Burnin’ Down the House isn’t about creature comforts, and fire fighters take pride in caring for their fire houses. “We’re not saying they don’t have nice enough TVs,” he said, “We’re saying that over 80 percent of on duty deaths in 2025 for the fire department came from occupational cancer. A big percentage of that is them living with hazardous materials around them for 48 hours a week.”
The statistics become even more sobering when he talks about his own family. “My father had two massive heart attacks before he was 70,” Dwyer shares, “My Uncle John had a massive heart attack before he was 65 and had occupational cancer. My Uncle Wayne had cancer and a heart attack before he was 65. That’s just in my family.”
He paused before adding, “What do you think it’s doing? If that’s the sample size that I see personally, which is why this movie means a lot to me personally, I have to be the voice for these guys, because they’re not out there doing that. They’re out there fighting for you.”
Funding, of course, is the central challenge. Gateway cities like Worcester are balancing aging schools, police facilities and infrastructure, all while being asked to fund multi million dollar public safety buildings. “To put it all on a municipality a lot of times is a hard ask,” Dwyer says, “Especially in urban cities like Worcester and Fall River and Lowell. Those cities sometimes don’t have the infrastructure on their own to build a multi million dollar firehouse.”
He points to the Massachusetts School Building Authority as an example of what is possible. If there is a state funding mechanism to help communities rebuild schools, why not something similar for essential municipal buildings like fire stations?
For Dwyer, the goal isn’t to point fingers, it’s to start a conversation that leads to action and builds the momentum needed to enact lasting, structural change. He hopes Burnin’ Down the House will spark the kind of public awareness that makes it impossible to ignore the conditions firefighters are quietly enduring. He wants audiences to walk away understanding that behind every emergency response is a firefighter returning to a building that may be compromising their long-term health. With the help of the Last Call Foundation, Dwyer and his team are working to change that one firehouse at a time.
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