By Dawn De Busk

Staff Writer

CASCO — A study of the current status and possible future of the Casco Fire Department was unveiled last week.

A brand new fire station was among the directions that were explored as part of the study. In fact, the build-new scenario is what was recommended.

During the Casco Board of Selectmen meeting on April 18, copies of the 27-page fire department feasibility study were stacked on the table for the public to take.

The study is more than a year in the making.

In January 2022, voters at Special Town Meeting approved the cost of less than $35,000 for the study to be done. Port City Architecture, based in Portland, is the company that completed the report.

The document provided an explanation of what the study was trying to accomplish: “The purpose of the study is to analyze the current staffing and apparatus, analyze call volumes and call locations, examine the current facilities, assess the department’s current and future space needs required to provide safe and efficient modern firefighting and rescue services to the community and recommend the best and most cost-effective facility improvements.”

Fire Chief Brian Cole encouraged people to read the entire study as it is very thorough and jam-packed with information.

He addressed the recommended course of action: Building new on existing property and allowing public works to take over the old fire barn

“The cost of new construction is intimidating,” he began. “We would have to basically double the size of our station. That being said, this [the fire station] is a 50-year building. Construction costs for a turnkey fire station, we are talking $8 to $10 million. That is a lot of money. I am nervous to have the number out there.”

The age of the fire barn coupled with the lack of space in the building, and the chaos and expense of remodeling the station — all are reasons Cole leaned toward the build new concept. Additionally, a budding public works department could use the existing fire station since it has the bays for plow trucks and other vehicles, he said.

“They went thoroughly over everything we need to change to bring it up to code,” he said. “We talked about remodeling. They [contractors] would have to take apart what is existing. To me, it doesn’t make sense for us to do that. Part of the goal was [to transition to] public works. It makes more sense to retro that to develop the public works department.”

The study stated that renovations were just as costly as building new.

“Due to the required code upgrades, the total project costs for an addition/renovation scenario would be close to, if not equal to, the same costs of a new station, but would not include the benefit of a 5,500-square foot public works building and would be less functional than a new facility on site,” the report said.

“Our recommendation is to pursue a new building scenario at the existing site and keep the Brown Avenue location as a seasonal call company facility,” the study said.

No Room For Growth

The current fire station in Casco does not provide room for growth, according to Chief Cole. In fact, the apparatus are parked two deep. Sometimes, the vehicle that is needed for a 9-1-1 call is the one in the back, he said. That situation cuts into response time.

“We have no more space in the fire station. There is nothing else we can do. We cannot add staffing, we cannot add equipment. There are a lot of things we are prohibited from doing because we are maxed out,” Cole said.

Additionally, the chief shares his office space with other staff.

Later during the discussion, an audience member asked about the current sleeping quarters. Another person asked what type of activities the station cannot do because of space restrictions.

“The sleeping quarters are a day room and a bunk room. Two people work each shift. Each of them will go into one of those rooms. There are No dedicated sleeping quarters. It doesn’t meet the standards of what we need to provide for sleeping quarters,” Cole said.

There is a program through Southern Maine Community College in which a fire department can provide college students with the ability to live and work at the fire station while attending college.

“It offsets their tuition. We get their employment while they are here. That bolsters our staffing,” he said.

While this program is something in which the department would like to participate, the “health and safety” of the current staff “is first and foremost,” Cole said.

The almost 50-year-old station offers no separation between the used fire-fighting gear and the rest of the building. The cancer-causing agents, or carcinogens, aren’t removed from the air that everyone breathes. 

“There is no air quality control. You come back from a fire. All the gear is dirty. It is still off-gassing for days after a fire,” Cole said. “How can I now protect my guys from these carcinogens?”

The sketches of a proposed building “included a sauna in the shower area of the fire station. They just started releasing studies if you return from a fire, sitting in sauna releases those toxins from your body,” Cole said.

Casco Town Manager Anthony “Tony” Ward further explained why this is a necessity, rather than a want.

“Right now, if a fire fighter is diagnosed with cancer, it is assumed it happened on duty. So, it is a workers’ comp case. That is why you hear about the sauna,” he said.

After the presentation, Susan Witonis suggested that people take a tour of Windham’s new station off Route 202.

Then, she posed a question.

“How does this plan fit into the regionalization that is being talked about,” Witonis said.

Ward answered.

“Chief Cole has been a strong voice about regionalization. He said that feasibility study shows Plan A, but regionalization should be Plan A and this is Plan B,” Ward said.

Anyhow, the change will not occur overnight. 

“It’s a 10-year plan. It is nothing that is going to happen tomorrow,” he said. “But, it is definitely a step in the right direction: where we are, where we are heading.”