By FireRescue1 Staff
OWLS HEAD, Maine — A fire department in desperate need of more firefighters posted signs around the town searching for new recruits.
Associated Press reported that the Owls Head Fire Department, which relies heavily on aid from surrounding towns, posted signs that say “We need people now, help, or we may as well be closed.”
According to Assistant Fire Chief John Gamage, the department is so low on firefighters that they sometimes have no one to respond to calls.
“As you can see we are proactive in recruitment as we are with training,” the department said in a Facebook post about the signs. “We graduated 13 personnel from the State BLS Interior Firefighter program, but lost a lot of key personnel due to housing problems.”
Gamage added that the department is not meeting national standards with the low number of firefighters responding to calls, and an extra stress is being put on responders.