Local emergency management agency directors are responsible for emergency preparedness and planning. They are the point of contact for responders in a declared local, state, or national emergency.
It is a role Stephen “Higgy” Higgins takes very seriously. Higgins assumed the role of Wiscasset’s EMA director in September. Despite not receiving a stipend for the strictly volunteer position, Higgins has spent nearly 100 hours updating Wiscasset’s All Hazards Plan.
He intends to bring the plan, which outlines how to prevent or respond to the threats, hazards, and disasters Wiscasset may encounter, to the board of selectmen for approval in December.
“With my background, I’m probably doing a lot more than I have to,” Higgins said, “but I want to. This is important.”
Higgins is a second-generation firefighter from Portland. He joined the Scarborough Fire Department in 1997, received his associate degree in fire science from Southern Maine Community College, and, upon graduation, worked in private fire protection for the Pratt & Whitney industrial complex in Wells.
While working for Pratt & Whitney, Higgins became a licensed paramedic. After eight years, however, Higgins left to work as a full-time firefighter and paramedic for Scarborough, where he remains. After moving to Wiscasset, he volunteered for the Wiscasset Fire Department for a couple of years and continues to work as a paramedic with the Wiscasset Ambulance Service.
Higgins also volunteers with the Edgecomb Fire Department, where he serves, with the rank of lieutenant, as the department’s training officer. He also volunteers with the Lincoln County Emergency Management Agency’s Decontamination Strike Team, or DECON 6, which is responsible for neutralizing hazardous material spills.
Higgins is bringing the wealth of his experience to his new role as Wiscasset’s EMA director. Formerly deputy director, Higgins assumed the position following former Director Roland Abbott’s resignation in September.
Well-versed in emergency preparedness due to his work with Pratt & Whitney, Higgins is tackling the updates to Wiscasset’s All Hazards Plan, which is revised annually and will dictate how the town responds to a declared state of emergency.
The updates range from simple tasks, such as ensuring contact information for selectmen is up to date; to reviewing Wiscasset’s hazard risk analysis, or potential calamities that could strike Wiscasset. The list of disasters that could result in a declared state of emergency and push the EMA director to the forefront of coordinating the response is long, Higgins said.
Some disasters, however, are much more likely to occur than others, he said. Weather-related disasters, from winter storms to flooding events, are at the top of the list, Higgins said, and primarily responsible for the state-of-emergency declarations that have occurred in Wiscasset.
While hostage situations, violence in the schools, and terrorist attacks are included in the emergency preparedness plan, they are far less likely to occur, Higgins said. Even with spent nuclear fuel stored at Maine Yankee, Wiscasset is not a high-risk terrorist target, Higgins said.
With Route 27 and Route 218 both state-designated hazmat routes, a hazardous material spill is a much more probable event, Higgins said.
If something in Wiscasset does go wrong, Higgins is making sure responders will know where to go, what to do, and who to communicate with.
“A lot of people really don’t understand the background” to an emergency response, Higgins said. “They pick up the phone and dial 911. They don’t see what goes into it in terms of planning.”
In his role, Higgins also works hand-in-hand with Lincoln County EMA to help Wiscasset’s police department, fire department, and ambulance service apply for and receive federal funds.
For more information about Wiscasset EMA, visit http://wiscassetema.org.
