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A casual conversation between two leaders of Harpswell’s volunteer fire departments led to the launch of Harpswell’s first basic fire school this summer.
Aaron Despres, assistant chief of the Cundy’s Harbor Volunteer Fire Department, told Benjamin Wallace Jr., chief of both the Cundy’s Harbor department and the Orr’s and Bailey Islands Fire Department, that the departments have volunteers who could provide greater benefit to the community, but don’t have time to complete Firefighter I training at a fire academy.
A meeting followed between leaders of the departments and a training coordinator from the Maine Fire Service Institute. After the meeting, Meriel Longley, a Harpswell municipal firefighter, took on the role of organizing the program.
Harpswell interim Fire Administrator Frank True, Longley, and Parker Bradbury, another municipal firefighter, are the instructors. The program serves members of all three volunteer departments in Harpswell: Cundy’s Harbor, Harpswell Neck Fire and Rescue, and Orr’s and Bailey Islands.
Through this free course, students will gain, at the least, knowledge of how to assist at the scene outside a structure on fire. If they complete the full course, they may also become eligible for interior firefighting.
The school teaches basic skills, including hose and equipment use and maintenance. Students become adept at using ladders and other basic tools of firefighting. Vehicle and pump operations are taught through separate programs.
Fire school started in May and will continue through the summer. “If the inaugural edition of the fire school is deemed a success, we will explore offering it again in the future,” Wallace said.
