Submitted by Fire Chief, Andrew Denton

The past year saw a relatively normal number of emergency calls for fires, motor vehicle accidents and medical responses both in, and outside of, our Town. We did initiate some important changes during the year that will improve our capabilities in providing service to our neighbors and our guests;

1. We completed the replacement of our old ladder truck, whose ladder had failed it’s ladder test, with a “new to us” ladder from Ogunquit, Maine. This apparatus, which combines a longer ladder and a rear mounted location, provides us with improved capability to give our firemen a safer platform upon which to work in any situation requiring activities above the ground;


2. We have initiated improvements in our response capabilities for snowmobile related emergencies within our Town. Due to the substantial trail network within our boundaries, the excellent quality of our trails (through the efforts of our local Club) and the increase in snowmobile enthusiasts, we felt we needed to obtain the equipment necessary to evacuate patients from trails in the event of an accident. With our resources and those of our Mutual Aid partner Towns, we now have contingency plans for assisting those in need in these remote areas;

3. We have re-staffed our EMS director position which gives immediate benefits for both our EMS and our Fire responses. The new EMS Director is M. Tapio Mayo, from Bridgewater, and he holds the Firefighter I and II designation and is an EMT. We welcome him as an integral part of our operations.

If you’ll allow me, let me remind you of a few things about safety: First, if you call 911 on a cell phone, be prepared to give an accurate location. Cell phones are not tied into the Enhanced 911 system so the call is routed to State Police. The operator will not know your location (as they would on a land line phone) so you must be prepared to give them this information. Second, please have working smoke detectors on all levels of your home, make sure the batteries (if battery powered) are good and never disable them. No one disputes that smoke detectors save lives-your life is worth any trouble required to maintain these devices. And lastly, consider installing carbon monoxide detectors. We have had some “close calls” this past year with carbon monoxide poisoning which could have been avoided by these types of detectors. As with smoke detectors, they can be invaluable to you and your family’s safety.

In closing, we are always looking for new members to staff our various operations. Whether you have an interest in the Fire Department or our EMS Division, we’d like to speak with you. We are truly neighbors helping neighbors, it’s exciting and rewarding. Come by on Monday evenings and see what a Fire/EMS operation is like-you may stay for a lifetime!

* A Division of Bridgewater Public Safety