With decreasing volunteer ranks and growing equipment costs, six Lincoln County fire departments believe collaboration might be the way forward.
Damariscotta Fire Chief John Roberts first shared plans for a Central Lincoln County Fire District during the Damariscotta Select Board’s Wednesday, Dec. 18 meeting.
“Not just in our community but statewide and nationwide, there is a shrinking number of volunteer firefighters,” he said. “We’re trying to take a proactive (approach) about that.”
Bremen, Bristol, Damariscotta, Newcastle, Nobleboro, and South Bristol would make up the Central Lincoln County Fire District. The idea is in its early stages, but Roberts said the six towns are considering working together because of their geographic proximity and participation in the Central Lincoln County Ambulance Service.
If the district is formed, Roberts said the fire departments would update their mutual aid agreements to include reliance on participating towns for critical firefighting equipment like ladder trucks or tankers. The increased collaboration would also require consistent policies, procedures, and guidelines across all six departments.
Damariscotta board members said they appreciated the fire departments’ efforts to work together.
“This is pretty forward thinking,” said Damariscotta Select Board Chair Daryl Fraser, commending Roberts and the other participating fire chiefs for working to keep “public safety up and even survival of your own departments.”
Roberts said official action was not necessary because the departments are just starting their work on the potential district. As the six towns dig into the collaborative effort, he said it’s important to maintain the legacy and tradition tied to each distinctive department.
“The idea of the district isn’t one big combined department,” he said. “This is still six individual departments, but trying to have an administrative relationship where we can work together on a closer basis.”
South Bristol Fire Chief Allen Spinney said members of his department are generally on board with the formation of the fire district.
“Generally, everybody is in favor of it in terms of mutual aid agreements and protocols to make it easier for departments to work together,” Spinney said. “In a general sense, everyone does see the need for it, the only thing that seems to be taxing is the administrative overhead.”
Spinney said although the South Bristol select board was in favor of the formation of the district, their biggest concern was how much the formation would cost the town.
According to Spinney, the only additional cost the town would face would be payroll for department members in the administrative committee created by the district to create policies.
Chief Aaron Bradbury, of the Nobleboro Fire Department, echoed similar thoughts to Spinney, saying the members of his department are on board with the formation of the district.
“They are all behind it,” Bradbury said. “A lot of the things it is proposing are things we are already doing, but this will get it in writing.”
Newcastle Fire Chief Casey Stevens said he feels this project represents a necessary step given the challenges outlined in the proposal.
“It will take time to work through our shared goals, but the conversations to date have been productive and encouraging,” Stevens said. “This effort is focused on the long-term sustainability of the fire service in our area, and I am optimistic about the results it can achieve for our departments and the communities we serve.”
Bremen Fire Chief Eric Teele said that he and the rest of the department are in support of the formation of the fire district, particularly when it comes to the mutual aid agreements, although details are still being discussed.
Bristol Town Administrator Rachel Bizarro said the select board was receptive to the idea and is looking forward to hearing more information from Bristol Fire Chief Scott Sutter. Sutter was unavailable for comment.
Roberts said he would keep the Damariscotta Select Board updated as details around the potential fire district develop.
“There’s a lot of moving parts, a lot of personalities, that need to mesh to make this work,” he said. “We’re not committing too much at this point.”
