After early success, town adopts program to recruit young firefighters

After the early success of a homegrown program to recruit young volunteer firefighters, the town is adopting the program — and hiring one of its members.

The town will now fund the program at a cost of $6,000 per year, which will go toward certifications, supplies and training with outside agencies.

The Fire and Rescue Accession Program enables young recruits to “explore and gain experience with the various aspects of fire and rescue services, both at the volunteer and career level, with the ultimate goal of providing a new generation of first responders willing and able to be active members in the town’s three volunteer fire departments and/or to work for the town’s safety and emergency service,” according to an overview of the program.

Harpswell has three independent fire and rescue departments: the Cundy’s Harbor Volunteer Fire Department, Harpswell Neck Fire and Rescue, and the Orr’s and Bailey Islands Fire Department. The town supplements their efforts with two municipal firefighters on duty from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays, when volunteers are less likely to be available, and a paramedic on duty 24/7.

“With volunteerism at unprecedentedly low levels nationwide, fire departments across the country are unable to muster enough responders to meet the needs of the communities they serve,” the overview of the new program says. “This trend is further exacerbated by the advanced age of most volunteer responders, with many volunteers (particularly in Harpswell) being in their 60s and older. At least two in the town of Harpswell are in their 80s.”

Meriel Longley and Sean Hall, who belong to volunteer departments and serve as municipal firefighters, set out to solve the problem. Their early efforts were fruitless.

They made presentations to students at Mt. Ararat High School in Topsham. They joined the advisory board for a program that trains emergency medical technicians at Brunswick’s Region 10 Technical High School. They taught skills to Region 10 students. But not a single young volunteer came forward.

Longley and Hall eventually decided to take “a more organic approach” to the problem, according to the overview. They were already leading study and training sessions for the few younger members of the volunteer departments, so they opened those sessions to anyone ages 16-30 who wanted to learn about fire and rescue in Harpswell.

The Fire and Rescue Accession Program started meeting on April 11, 2023. Members gather weekly for training. Already, they have earned CPR and first aid certifications and learned skills such as forcible entry, radio communications and water rescue.

The grassroots initiative now has 12 members. Two have attended the local fire academy and gained their Firefighter I and II certifications, while three more are starting the academy in January. One member has earned an EMT license and another is pursuing their license, Hall told the Select Board on Dec. 28. Members come from all three volunteer departments.

Program members may attend three meetings before they must join their local volunteer department for insurance purposes. Harpswell Fire Administrator Mike Drake said the program “is going to be a huge boost to the volunteer departments.”

The instructors, Longley and Hall, will become full-time town employees.

The town previously had three “regular part-time” firefighters, including Longley and Hall, who worked between 20 and 37.5 hours per week. However, one position has been vacant since Drake’s promotion in August 2023.

Drake said a third part-time firefighter is not currently needed because he is working two firefighting shifts a week as part of his new position. Longley and Hall were already working 36 hours per week, and will move to full time to accommodate their responsibilities with the new program. The town also employs five per diem firefighters, who fill shifts as necessary.

The Select Board embraced the program.

“I can’t help but think how times have changed,” board member David Chipman said. From the age of 8, he was learning about firefighting from his father, Irving Chipman, longtime chief of Harpswell Neck Fire and Rescue.

“And then, when I became 18, you just automatically became a fireman. Not much training or anything went along with it,” Chipman said.

Expectations for training are not the only change since those days. “We had a lot of younger people back then, and it was not a big deal, but we’re running out of younger people,” Chipman said.

“I think this is a fantastic program,” Chipman added.

Hall told the board the program is resonating with its members.

“We’ve had more than a few of them say, ‘This is the high point of my week. I look forward to Thursday night.’ There’s a social component involved,” Hall said. “We usually share a meal and do some training. It’s really neat to see how it’s developed.”

Deputy Town Administrator Terri Gaudet said the town’s population of younger residents has declined, but has not disappeared.

“There are still some there,” Gaudet said. “They just need this encouragement and this in-town role model within the department that can help them through all the paperwork and all the strings and everything.”

The Select Board voted 3-0 to adopt the program effective Jan. 1. On Jan. 11, the board approved the hire of one of its original members as a per diem municipal firefighter.

The member, Nik Manousos, completed his firefighter certification while in the program and has since landed a full-time job as a Brunswick firefighter and EMT. He also volunteers with the Orr’s and Bailey Islands Fire Department.

His success “has done much to motivate and encourage the group to pursue further training in emergency services,” according to the overview of the program. “Additionally, the experience and skills he will gain as a career firefighter will directly benefit the volunteer departments in town.”

Manousos, of Bailey Island, told the Select Board he was “incredibly honored and humbled” to get the Harpswell position.

“I’m greatly looking forward to serving this community and helping maintain and protect it,” he said.