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The present Freeport, Maine Fire Company organization has devoted more than 100 years of service to the greater Freeport Community. For many Freeport firefighters volunteering and serving is a family tradition. Most of the information for this brief history was taken from the Fire Chief’s written report published as part of the town’s Annual Report. There aren’t many personal references to individual firefighters in the early years. It’s obvious though that these firefighters were practical people who worked for the overall good of the community. Kinds of fires are listed. Important fires are noted. The Chief lists his equipment, notes any changes, and asks for the community’s help in following the fire prevention practices that he advocates. Modern reports have more personal detail. 1901 Inventory of Apparatus, etc., Fire Department
The fire of 1909 destroyed Clark’s Hotel and the H.E. Davis Block on the corner of Main and Bow Streets. The newspaper account says Portland sent a pumper out on the train, but the train made so many stops on the way that it arrived too late. This wooden block was rebuilt in brick and burned again in 1982. 1914 brought the destruction of Casco Castle, a popular wooden summer hotel and destination on the electric trolley line. The stone tower, the work of master stone mason Frank Dunning, grandfather of former Freeport Fire Company Clerk, Jesse A. Dunning, Sr. stands today as a monument to this project and that era. Years pass and in 1924 Levi T. Patterson reports that the town has entered the motorized age and has purchased, after much argument, an American LaFrance Triple Motors fire engine for $5,575. Patterson also lists the following modern fire department inventory:
The chief mentions preplanning in every town report. He cautions people to build fire ponds. He asks them to tell him how far their buildings are from large bodies of water. He requests they burn grass carefully. Chief Patterson reminds merchants to clean out their cellars. During World War II many of the firemen were away in the service. According to the 1942 report, a watch was kept at the fire station from 7:30 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. Gas masks were added to the equipment list. Chief Guy Rowe explains in 1954 that the new fire alarm system has been installed and will be operational when the dial telephone system is complete. The alarm system must have moved to LL Bean at this time. During Guy Rowe’s tenure the town of Freeport purchased the old electric car barn on Lower Main Street and Chief Rowe moved the fire station to this facility in 1959. In 1962 the Department purchased the American LaFrance which was Freeport’s first custom fire apparatus. Guy Rowe died and Lawrence M. Worden became Chief. Chief Worden who writes descriptive reports says in 1963 that the trailer tank truck gets a large amount of water onto a fire even if the fire is beyond hydrant limits. Firefighters are no longer fully dependent upon fire ponds to supply water. Mutual Aid has helped with equipment needs. He explains, as previous chiefs have done, that there’s a continual need for fire training and practice. Firefighters spend time taking first aid courses. The men of the department are active members of the Community Blood Bank. In 1965 the first mention is made of purchase of Scott breathing apparatus which helps protect firefighters from smoke inhalation. There are 35 volunteer firemen and 15 high school boys who are training as juniors. In 1967 Chief Lawrence M. Worden explains that the Fire Department has been requested to operate an emergency ambulance and rescue service because the Fire Department was the only 24 hour organization with an alarm and communication system. Many firemen volunteered to take further first aid courses to make the system possible. The next year the Freeport Rescue Unit was formed within the Department and Thomas Brockway becomes Captain of the unit. Chief Worden says the Department owns seven trucks and a chief’s car. All of these vehicles are radio equipped. There are 25 Plektron home receivers, making it possible to reach most men by radio. Lawrence Worden resigned as Chief but continued as a firefighter responding to fires as long as he was able. Later Lawrence Worden was an active a Life Member of the Freeport Fire Company. Fire Chief Earl F. Silver, Sr., who operated the Freeport Texaco gasoline station in Freeport’s town square, was a very visible and accessible volunteer Chief. He changed the fire truck color from red to chrome yellow, the color currently used; because-yellow is more visible. In 1970 Silver explains that the cost to outfit a single’ firefighter with a coat, boots, helmet, and insulated rubber gloves is $100.00. Today Chief Fournier must budget $1,100 per firefighter for turnout gear, a helmet, and gloves. In 1975 Silver bought the first large diameter hose. That was an increase from 2 inch hose to 4 inch hose. Today our fire apparatus uses 5 inch 1 hose which improves water flow. When Earl Silver retires as Chief in 1976 he echoes the reports of his predecessors who have said that each passing year demands more time commitment from the volunteers an from the Chief. Silver says training levels are higher than they’ve ever been. Firefighters attend training sessions without pay. They work on the fire station and maintain equipment without pay. Silver says, ‘After 39 years in the Department, Eight of these years as Chief, I will not leave the department but will stay on as a regular fireman.” Chief Dwight Libby notes that fire prevention, public education, and chimney inspections take a good deal more of his time. Fire calls though have been greatly reduced because of improved fire prevention education and chimney inspections which were important when so many people who had never done so, began to burn wood during the oil crisis. September 22, 1981, the Fire Department experiences the biggest fire in recent years. At about 10 p.m. Midtown Apartments and Leighton’s Store in the Clark Block were set afire by an arsonist. Thirty three people were safely removed from the building. With the help of the mutual aid towns around us, the Department was able to contain the loss to the Clark Block and the adjoining Davis Block. The brick building was rebuilt and leased by Dansk a major retailer. The Wall Street Journal carried an article about the fire and the building’s location across from LL Bean. This newspaper story focused national attention on Freeport, Maine. The mid-1980’s marked the beginning of a new era of retail development. This era has been called the Freeport Boom of the 1980’s. During Chief Libby’s tenure in 1983 Darrel G. Fournier was hired as the first full time firefighter. The town needed a paid person to perform inspections and respond to the increasing demands that economic development had placed upon the town and the Fire Department. Darrel G. Fournier was appointed Chief in 1984. Chief Fournier and the firefighters worked with the schools bringing the popular Learn Not To Burn program into the classroom. During these early years a used tractor was bought from Merrill Transport and made into a 5,000 gallon tank truck. Eleanor Houston Smith donated money for self-contained breathing apparatus. Fournier reports that the fire by arson at the old middle school on Howard Place in 1987 proved the ability of area fire departments working together in the Mutual Aid Association to battle fires in their jurisdiction. This 1987 report reinforces the escalated need for training, education, and improved communication. He notes the installation of the new fire alarm panel. This panel automatically gives the location of the fire to the Public Safety dispatcher. Chief Fournier also reports that the use of a computer has upgraded record keeping. 1987 marked the appointment of the first two female firefighters Deborah Libby and Sheryl Bernard Smith. 1988 the Chief bought a used ladder truck from Rochester, New York and bought a new Grumman pumper which was the first 1,500 per minute that Freeport owned. It had the first enclosed cab so that firefighters did not have to ride outside on the tailboard in bad weather. In 1989 the department applied for and received a $20,000 grant from the Freeport Rotary Club to develop videos, handouts on fire safety, and to aid in the recruitment of firefighters. Full time Portland firefighter Duncan Daly was recruited and became Chief when Chief DeGrandpre resigned. In the 1993 annual report Chief DeGranpre explains that the Fire Department responds to structure and vehicle fires, plus vehicle accidents where they assist Rescue with extrication. Chief Daly says Freeport has given and received Mutual Aid with surrounding towns. He calls Mutual Aid an extremely valuable program. In July of 1993 the fire apparatus was moved to the Hunter Road DPW building and the fire office relocated to 48A Main Street so that the construction of the new Public Safety Building could begin. Chief Daly announces the following year that The Freeport Fire department is now located at 4 Main Street in the new Public Safety Building. There is adequate space to store the fire apparatus and fire equipment as well as meeting rooms and office space. The fire apparatus inventory includes the following pieces of equipment: four engines, two tank trucks, a ladder truck, a squad truck, and an Air Trailer to provide an on scene refill station for breathing apparatus. The 1995 Annual report was dedicated to firefighter Don “Deke” Sloat (1924-1995). “Deke served the Town of Freeport for over 45 years as a dedicated member of the Freeport Fire Department. Deke also contributed to the community as an employee of the Freeport Public Works Department for many years.” In 1996 Chief Duncan Daly reported that the Freeport Volunteer Fire Department wishes to note significant changes. A committee was formed to study the Fire/Rescue administrative structures. Committee members were Rescue and Fire Department members as well as town staff and town councilors. Freeport hired Paul Conley as the first full time Rescue Chief. This marked the administrative separation of the Fire and Rescue Departments and was intended to bring equality and stability to the Fire and Rescue Departments. The town purchased a new ladder truck from Pierce Fire Trucks in Appleton, Wisconsin. Chief Daly announced the E911 Committee whose charge was to make sure that everything be consistent throughout town and that similar road names are changed to eliminate confusion if the event an emergency response were needed. The Freeport fire Department responded to 147 calls for assistance during the Ice Storm of 1998. Volunteers stayed at the station 24 hours a day for three days answering calls for assistance. In previous years firefighters and rescue members had stayed during heavy snowstorms. Chief Daly closes his report with comments about the 1939 LaFrance fire truck. Fire Company members are raising funds to restore Engine 3. Chief Daly calls it a piece of history. Engine 3 was reported to have been used at a fire the day it arrived in Freeport. It continued to serve the town for 49 years. In 1980 the LaFrance went into Although Duncan Daly retired as Fire Chief in 1988 he continues today to serve as a Freeport firefighter. He also maintains the municipal fire alarm system. Daly also serves his community as a member of the Freeport /Yarmouth Water Rescue and Dive team established in 2002. Darrel G. Fournier returned to Freeport and was appointed Fire Chief. In the 1998 Annual Report he states that the Fire Department has one paid full time Fire Chief, one shared secretary, and fifty-five volunteer call firefighters who respond 24 hours a day 365 days a year. The self-contained breathing apparatus was upgraded and a new Tank 1 truck was ordered and a Tank 2 tanker truck. The junior fire fighters were incorporated into an Explorer Post. Chief Fournier applied for and received an $1,500 grant for radio communications, a $1,500 grant for foam, and a $10,000 grant for hazardous materials training. In 1999 the Fire Department in partnership with the Freeport Rotary Club conducted a successful a Community Smoke Detector give-away for elderly residents. The next year the Freeport Rotary and the Fire Company started selling Christmas trees together near the site of the new Freeport Fire Rescue Museum. Stan Davis, Bob Fusselman, Brent Moon and other Fire Company members have worked hard to insure the success of this project. The Fire Company enlisted the help of the Freeport Historical Society. The Historical Society mounted a very successful interpretive exhibit of Freeport Fire Department memorabilia. The Freeport Fire Museum is scheduled to open in August 2002. The Town of Freeport was able to hire the first full time firefighter paramedics in July 2001 .They work from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. 7 days a week. Freeport started the non-emergency medical transport service. The transport service funds the paramedic firefighter positions. The Maine Fire Service Commission was formed in 2001. Freeport Fire Chief Darrel Fournier is vice-chair of this organization. One of their charges is to study the recruitment and retention of firefighters on a state-wide basis They are investigating the issue of healthcare coverage as well as the possibility of a centrally located fire academy. Significant new federal and state mandates have compounded the demands made upon Maine communities to increase the level of professionalism of their firefighters. The Freeport Fire Department has a web site. Anyone who has access to a computer no matter where they are in the world can simply type in Freeport, Maine and get there by following the links to the Fire Department web site. There’s a full color photograph of each piece of fire equipment here. Here is a list of the fire apparatus owned by the town of Freeport in Jan of 2008:
Personnel: The Freeport Fire Department has come a long way from the 1901 Inventory. The equipment and apparatus is technologically sophisticated. Firefighters and their families still continue to give, as they did over one hundred years ago, many hours of service to this community. |
The Freeport Fire Company came into being around 1898-1900. There were previous volunteer companies, but their records are lost to us. In the beginning the Department was made up of a Hook and Ladder Company and a Hose Company whose members voted in 1899 to move a small building from the Briggs and Cushing Shipyard near South Freeport to land on Cushing Avenue at Freeport Corner. Here is a list of equipment owned by the Fire Company. This year they purchased a hook and ladder truck for $200.00. It came complete with ladders, hooks, chains, and axes. 
By 1926 the Fire Department is evidently now alerted and summoned by the telephone operator who also blows the whistle. The chief asks that townspeople not jam the telephone switchboard with calls inquiring about the location of the fire. In 1930, a 1929 Chevrolet fire truck was purchased for $1,829.00. This unit has been completely restored. By 1934 the chief is reporting that some of his men attended fire school in Portland under the auspices of the State Board of Education. They received 20 of training in modern firefighting. Dr. H.I.Goldman taught a first aid class. Average attendance was ten men. 
In 1978-1979 the police, fire, and rescue dispatching services moved to School Street marking the beginning of the Town of Freeport’s 24 hour dispatch system. Dwight Libby, Sr. was the Fire Chief then. As a firefighter under Chief Silver, Dwight Libby, Sr., was instrumental in establishing standards for fire- fighter training programs. Those programs were the foundation of training standards currently in use. In 1979 Charles F. Smith, Deputy Chief, reports that the Rescue Unit now includes members outside of the Fire Department. The extra staff increased daytime coverage. When the State of Maine adopted the National Fire Protection Agency Firefighter One standards, even more training was required for firefighters. One hundred and twenty five hours of training are required to meet those qualifications today. 
In 1990 Charles DeGrandpre became the second full time chief of the Department when Chief Fournier left Freeport to accept another position. Deborah Libby assumed the position of Rescue Director. In their joint report to the town they noted 350 fire calls and 480 rescue calls for a total of 830 calls for the time period. They credit fire inspection and public education programs for keeping property loss to $35,000 that year. Emergency Preparedness was placed under the Fire Department and there’s discussion of hazardous materials training. In 1991 there was a structure fire at the Depot Street Mall and during Hurricane Bob in August. Firefighters were busing pumping cellars, responding to downed trees and power lines. In 1992 the body was replaced on tank 1. Engine 5 a 1,000 gallon per minute pumper was purchased. It was noted that the department and company were trying to increase firefighter and rescue membership during this period. Recruitment and retention of volunteers became more difficult as the Department made more demands. Most firefighters and rescue members now worked out of town.  |
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