RAYMOND – After 13 years leading the Raymond Fire-Rescue Department, Chief Denis Morse has stepped down and has been replaced by the new chief, Bruce Tupper, Morse’s former second-in-command.

Tupper’s hiring was approved by the Raymond Board of Selectmen at its meeting last Tuesday. Tupper assumed control of the department last Wednesday. He will receive a $52,000 base salary plus overtime on an as-needed basis for responding to emergency calls.

Tupper is no stranger to Raymond, having served as assistant chief since late 2003. Tupper, 48, began in the public safety field in 1981 working as a call firefighter and dispatcher in Cumberland. He moved up the ranks to captain there before moving in 1995 to the New Gloucester Fire Department, where he rose to the rank of chief.

In 2003, Morse convinced Tupper to come to Raymond and serve as his assistant since both shared a common vision for how a rural fire department should operate.

“Denis has a way with words,” Tupper said when asked why he gave up the chief’s position in New Gloucester to take a lower-ranked role in Raymond. “He and I talked a lot and I really liked the direction he was taking the department in. He is not your traditional chief by any way shape or form. He is a visionary, and his vision and mine really aligned.”

Tupper, who’s excited with his new role, moved in 2003 to Valley Road in Raymond, where he lives with his wife Stacey, 16-year-old son Ryan, 19-year-old daughter Kayle, and in-laws Betty and Ivan Warden.

Tupper and Morse have pursued regionalization, which in firefighting terms has meant trying to coordinate training sessions with area departments and purchasing equipment that can be used by firefighters from other departments in emergency situations.

Morse, who worked in the profession for 32 years, mostly in Portland, and the last 13 in Raymond, is not retiring from the Raymond department, but is taking a new role as business manager. While Tupper will focus on leading the operations side as the department fights fires and responds to rescue calls, Morse will run the finances and pursue regionalization. And though they have different titles, the effort to convince neighboring towns to pursue regional firefighting and rescue won’t waiver.

“It’s absurd for a talented guy like Bruce to be answering to me as chief,” Morse said. “So this past year we’ve all been talking – he, Cathy (Gosselin, deputy chief of emergency management services) and I – and feel this is the best direction to take the department. I’ll run more the business end of things. I guess you can say, I’m going to be putting on a tie instead of my firefighting coat.”

Morse, who has managed to keep the fire department’s budget flat-funded for the last five years and hasn’t taken a raise since Tupper was hired, is taking a cut in pay in becoming the business manager. Instead of earning $500 a week and having a vehicle and cell phone, he will earn $250 per week with no phone, health or vehicle benefits.

Morse, however, is looking forward to the challenge of pushing the regional approach to fire-rescue. He wants to work with other area towns to provide effective emergency response and achieve a “better bang for our buck,” he said.

Using the example of a forestry truck that allows personnel to access a woods fire, he details the cost-saving benefits regionalization could provide local taxpayers.

“Why do three area towns all need a forestry truck?” he said. “We need to make plans to have one (forestry) truck between the three towns, instead of three. The public doesn’t want to fund three forestry trucks, nor should they be expected to. So, I’m hoping there are departments out there that want to do business with the town of Raymond and take a regional approach. Because, when you get right down to it, it’s all about the money.”

Morse’s years of service were heralded at the Raymond selectmen meeting where he requested the shift in duties.

“Working with Denis over the last 10 years, of course I’ve been impressed with him,” Town Manager Don Willard said. “He never stands still. He’s unlike any other public safety official I’ve ever worked with in my 30 years. You’re always trying to push the town forward and improve things and I think you’ve done that and should be commended for that.”

The vote to approve the new roles was 4-1 with Charles Leavitt the dissenting vote. Leavitt was concerned with the process saying the town should have requested applications for the new position. Morse responded saying Tupper was more than qualified for the job.

Leavitt also was concerned with Morse focusing on regionalization, which would only work if other towns agreed to work with Raymond. Morse responded by saying regionalization would be part of the new role but he would also focus on “making the fire department more business-like.

“I want to finish setting the department up like a business,” he said, “which means we have to look at revenues, we have to look how we’re spending taxpayer money and we have to more time on the fiscal end of it than the operations end.”

Bruce Tupper, who has served as the assistant fire-rescue chief
in Raymond since 2003, was installed as chief last week. Former
Chief Denis Morse will stay on as the department’s business
manager, and Cathy Gosselin with continue as deputy chief of
emergency management services. (Staff photo by John Balentine)
Longtime Chief Denis Morse, seen here fighting a fire at Raymond
Hill Baptist Church this summer, said he will be donning a suit and
tie in his new role as business manager for the Raymond Fire-Rescue
Department. (File photo)

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