Bangor Daily News
HOWLAND, Maine — After a new town manager was hired late last month, some local firefighters threatened to quit, but the town’s fire department roster remains about the same, officials said Thursday.
The number of firefighters on the Howland Fire Department roster is 26, with three more applications pending, interim Fire Chief Bob Thomas said.
“We have only lost two people. We have had two more sign up and I have had interest from several others. We are in pretty good shape,” Thomas said Thursday.
Fire Chief Phil Dawson and his brother Dwight eventually resigned, and nine volunteers who attended a Board of Selectmen’s meeting June 8 said they were at least considering resigning from the department effective June 26, the week before the new town manager, William Lawrence, took office.
Dawson, 59, tendered his resignation letter at a board meeting May 11 immediately after selectmen voted 4-1 to hire Lawrence, Lincoln’s former town manager, to replace interim Town Manager Peggy Daigle July 1.
Lawrence and Dawson, Lincoln’s former fire chief, clashed when they served in Lincoln. Several of the volunteers who attended the June 8 meeting spoke favorably of Dawson but also said they did not want to leave the town’s emergency services understaffed. The board voted June 9 to effectively accept Phil Dawson’s resignation and also voted to appoint Thomas, an assistant chief, as interim fire chief.
Officials said they were glad that the department’s roster remained essentially unchanged. In a state where the volunteer firefighter population is shrinking, volunteers are needed more than ever before, they said. The town runs an ambulance service, as well as a fire department.
Lawrence said he didn’t see any immediate issues with the fire department. He is working instead on familiarizing himself with the town’s financial workings and town office routine.
“We are going through our year-end audits and I am following their methods of cash flow because every town is different. I am also learning the personalities of the staff and seeing how they conduct their business,” Lawrence said Thursday. “Change is difficult for everybody, and it’s a lot easier for me to learn their system right now” instead of imposing one on the staff.
Meanwhile, Thomas said he is working to expand the number of area fire departments Howland has mutual-aid contracts with beyond Lincoln, Passadumkeag and Seboeis. They have agreed to participate in Penobscot County-wide mutual aid and are working on contracts with Lagrange and Lowell, he said.
Howland firefighters will meet at the station at 6 p.m. Tuesday, July 14, and will host an area fire chief’s meeting at the station the next day at 6 p.m. People interested in becoming town firefighters are encouraged to attend, Thomas said.
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