Barry Ireland was new to the Arlington Fire Department when the chief, James "Clayt" Laffin, showed him how to get the job done.

The two were at the scene of a fire on Fulton Avenue in the mid-1960s when Laffin brought Ireland into the center of the fire, Ireland said.

"He took me right into it, just as easy as nothing," Ireland said. "You can't imagine how much heat and smoke there was. He stayed right behind me, talking me through it and showing me what needed to be done."

This week the members of the Arlington Fire Department were mourning Laffin, who died Monday at Vassar Brothers Medical Center. He was 85.

Known for his expertise on a fire scene, those who knew Laffin remembered him as a mentor who helped the Arlington Fire Department grow with the community.

"He was ahead of his time, definitely," said retired Lt. Earle Bunn, who knew Laffin since the mid-1960s. "He was a great teacher -- he had the patience of a saint."

Bill Doyle, former commissioner of the Arlington Fire Department, said Laffin's knowledge of how to fight fires was unmatched.

"He could come to a scene of a fire, sit back and within 20 seconds he could tell exactly what was going on," Doyle said. He said Laffin was born to be a firefighter.

A native of Wappingers Falls and longtime Arlington resident, Laffin joined the Arlington Fire Department in 1936 and held several positions until he attained the rank of chief in 1949. He also served as a sergeant in World War II.

The fire chief, who was credited with helping found three of the department's four fire companies, retired in 1981.

LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION paying tribute to James C. Laffin, Sr. upon the occasion of the dedication of the Arlington Fire District Headquarters being named in his honor on June 8, 2003

The Arlington Fire District headquarters building has a new name in honor of the department's old chief, who died this spring.

James "Clayt" Laffin Sr. joined the Arlington Fire Department as a volunteer in 1936, rising through the ranks to become chief of a growing community's fire department, retiring in the early '80s. Laffin was instrumental in the department's development, said Deputy Chief Jeffrey Pells.

The idea to dedicate the department's headquarters to Laffin came out of an Arlington Fire District Board of Commissioners meeting, Pells said. "We were talking about his funeral, and him in general, and the idea came up."

"If God had given me two fathers, the chief would have been one," Joseph P. Hines said of Laffin. Hines met Laffin at age eight, when he used to hang around the fire house. At 16 Hines joined the department as a volunteer. He was appointed to the department as a professional firefighter in 1964 where he worked under Laffin until a 1967 motorcycle accident caused him to lose his eyesight. "He had a lot to do with motivating me to do something with my life after that accident," Hines said of Laffin.

Hines praised Laffin's leadership abilities and his sense of humor. "He had the ability to create an environment when you were constantly learning but still having fun. He used to describe fire department as high school without homework."

Laffin was good at his job, Hines said. "In firefighting, there's always the risk of getting hurt or losing your life but under the command of a man like that it was minimized and you just didn't worry about it. You never questioned his judgment."

The Arlington Fire Department grew along with the community it served under Laffin's leadership, said Pells.

"(Laffin) built that fire department and he had an uncanny ability to see into the future and assess the needs of a growing community as far as the fire department went," said Hines, who is now a psychologist working with the Fire Department of New York. "He thoroughly enjoyed what he did. He had a respect for the men who worked for him. I would even go so far to say that he had a love for the men who worked for him. He was very close to his community."