Easton firefighters will have a larger, safer space if $3 million in federal spending is approved for 2025.
U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine and vice president of the Senate appropriations committee, announced in July the committee had advanced public safety funds, including those for Easton, as part of the 2025 Agriculture, Rural Development, and Food and Drug Administration Appropriations bill.
Built in 1959, Easton’s current fire station can no longer support the size or weight of modern firefighting vehicles. Fire trucks are now stored separately due to safety concerns, Fire Chief Greg White said. A new building would accommodate vehicles, gear, cleaning and training room in one space, making the job much easier for the 12-member, all-volunteer crew that recently expanded its role.
“We’re a full blown fire department, along with the [Aroostook County] regional response team for hazmat, in essence without a station,” White said. “We’re just in a holding spot at this point in time. We’re able to maintain our service, however it’s at great effort among our members.”
Easton’s insurance company was concerned about the weight of fire vehicles on the station floor, and a structural engineer inspected the space earlier this year, Town Manager Cheryl Clark said. Because of weaknesses in several spots, the engineer recommended the fire trucks be moved.
The fire station is actually on the top floor of a two-story town building. The lower level was once the town garage and most recently housed school buses, Clark said. The fire department moved their vehicles into that space, and the school buses are now stored outside.
The arrangement presents some challenges, according to Chief White and Assistant Fire Chief Kyle White. The ground-level space has poor lighting, no ventilation, and isn’t easily accessed from the top floor. The first person to arrive for a fire call goes down and drives the truck up to ground level outside the station for the rest of the crew.
It’s also tough to accommodate training and meetings, especially since the department now hosts Aroostook County’s hazardous materials regional response team.
Madawaska had led the team for several years, but couldn’t do it anymore, Chief White said. The hazmat truck, owned by the Maine Emergency Management Agency, went to the Aroostook Emergency Management office in Caribou.
No local crew took on the hazmat role, so the truck was headed for Augusta. The County would then depend on the closest hazardous response crew, based in Orono. The Easton crew didn’t want that to happen.
“We weren’t going to let it go back to Augusta without a try,” Greg White said. “For the past six to eight months it’s been 60 hours of training for our people to become hazmat technicians.”
Members from other local departments have also joined the team.
The Easton fire station is one of 19 proposed projects in Aroostook County totaling more than $43 million, according to Collins’ office.
The funding proposal needs to pass the House and be signed into law, which typically happens in the fall, but White is hopeful. A new station would help the department meet proposed federal rules that include cleaning and firefighter safety.
Some of those involve specific decontamination requirements for vehicles, gear and personnel after a fire. The current station has no space or drainage to wash vehicles indoors, no showers and no gear washing apparatus. Being able to wash a fire truck inside in January, for instance, would be a huge benefit, the chief said.
But whether or not the funding passes, Easton needs a fire station, he said.
Local officials discussed the need for a new station at the annual town meeting in April. The project’s projected cost is $4 million, so the federal funding would cover three-quarters of that and the town would appropriate the rest, Town Manager Clark said.
Leaders are discussing repurposing the existing station, perhaps for the Recreation Department. Because there would be no multi-ton equipment involved, the building would be safe for such uses, she said.
Right now, they’re waiting to see if the funding passes and exploring potential sites for a new fire department home.
“We do have a very promising lot in mind and we’re working toward the purchase of that,” Clark said, declining to specify further. “Then if we’re accepted, I think in the spring we can start doing groundwork.”
