Ellsworth fire officials still don’t know how much it will cost to fix a truck that rolled down a hill and smashed into a tree, but the department has more on its mind than getting the vehicle back in good working order.
The entire fleet needs to be upgraded to replace aging vehicles and move others to more of a backup role, city fire department officials said. They also are looking at other big changes, including upgrading the department’s medical response license, acquiring a second ambulance and possibly establishing another station on Bangor Road, also known as Route 1A.
Most of these upgrades are aimed at boosting the department’s ambulance service. The city has gradually increased its medical response capabilities as private ambulance services have changed in recent years and as the medical call volume in the city has dramatically increased.
As the city’s population has grown, more housing is popping up along Route 1 toward Bucksport and Route 1A toward Bangor, and the volume of medical calls has grown accordingly, fire department officials said. That’s why they would like to add another fire and medical station in the North Ellsworth part of town, near where Route 1A intersects Nicolin and Branch Pond roads.
“We think that is where the need is going to be,” Geoffrey Low, the city’s outgoing assistant fire chief, said this week. “Ellsworth is a growing community. We’re trying to get ahead of that.”
Low, who has accepted a position to be Bangor’s new fire chief, and Ellsworth Fire Chief Scott Guillerault said they are seeking public feedback on a possible strategic plan to chart a course for meeting demand for emergency services in the growing city.
First on the department’s wish list is upgrading its aging fleet of vehicles. Even if the tree-damaged engine can be repaired and returned to service, the department has several vehicles that are getting relatively old, according to Guillerault.
One engine and the department’s response boat are each 26 years old, three more trucks are between 12 and 17 years old, and two more are nearing a decade of use. The boat, which the department uses for water rescues, is undersized for the department’s needs and its longest truck-mounted ladder is only 75 feet long, the chief said. Because ladders often have to be extended at a low angle, rather than at or nearly straight up in the air, the department’s truck-mounted ladder should extend 100 feet, he said.
Guillerault said he hopes the City Council will approve funding in the 2025-2026 budget to make some immediate headway in improving the fleet.
He said that, with the help of funds from the pandemic-era American Rescue Plan Act, the department already has been upgrading some equipment.
It bought new hydraulic extrication equipment for freeing people from wrecked vehicles or machinery. It installed a diesel exhaust and air brake line systems to improve conditions and response times at its station in the basement of City Hall.
It also has purchased additional medical equipment in anticipation of having its medical response license upgraded from advanced emergency medical technician level to paramedic level. Being licensed for paramedic services will allow staffers with appropriate certifications to administer a wider variety of services than EMTs, such as intravenous medications and intubations.
If the city approves a plan to establish a second station on Bangor Road in a few years, the department likely would purchase a new ambulance and add three positions in order to staff it, Guillerault said. Currently, the department has approximately 20 full-time positions, including a vacant firefighter role. The city has not yet advertised an opening to replace Low as assistant chief, Guillerault said.
“We need more people, and we need better vehicles,” the chief said.
