The newest chief for the Bangor Fire Department starts work on Monday, the city’s first new chief in nearly a decade.
The role marks Geoffrey Low’s third time serving as a fire chief. The 54-year-old spent 24 years at Auburn’s fire department, serving as chief from 2016 to 2018. He then became Orono’s fire chief in 2018 and then the town’s public safety director in 2021 until 2024. Low became the deputy chief at Ellsworth in June.
In Bangor, Low is replacing a longtime fire department veteran, Thomas Higgins. Higgins served in the fire department for 34 years, spending nearly the last decade as fire chief. He started that job in 2015, saying he had spent his career focused on stepping into a leadership position.
The city council approved a three-year contract with Low on Dec. 23 with a starting salary of $124,405.
Taking the job in Bangor allows Low to get back to doing what he really enjoys: leadership and helping create better firefighters, he said.
“I’m happy for the opportunity,” Low said. “What I’m looking forward to the most is getting to be part of the team and helping people grow and develop.”
Low has also worked as an adjunct instructor for the Maine Fire Service Institute and as a contract instructor for the National Fire Academy. Through that and various mutual aid calls, he’s met some of Bangor’s firefighters.
“I’ve worked with some of these people and I think they’re all great, very talented people,” Low said.
It’s too early to say if there are changes Low said he wants to bring to the department. He said he wants to have “complete situational awareness” of how everything works beforehand.
The steepest learning curve will be studying the department’s policies, Low said.
Born in Portland, Low has lived in multiple areas around the state. He and his wife now live in Hampden. They have three adult sons, two are police officers and the third starts as a full-time Hermon firefighter this week. They also recently welcomed their first grandchild.
“Bangor is culturally very rich and there are a lot of things happening,” Low said of his new position. “Why wouldn’t I want to be here?”
