A Gorham fire truck driven by a 20-year-old student remains out of service after it skidded off Fort Hill Road during last week’s blizzard.
Fire Chief Robert Lefebvre said the 2002 fire truck went off the road near the Fred Bennett Farm while returning from a fire call on Valley View Drive during the Feb. 14 snowstorm. It sustained $4,000-$5,000 in damages. A wrecker was needed to retrieve the fire truck.
The police report said the fire truck was driven by Cassidy Steeves, 20, with Hannah Orfe, 18, as a passenger. Neither was injured, and no ambulance was dispatched to the scene. Lefebvre said both are students training in firefighting at Southern Maine Community College in South Portland.
“Being students had nothing to do with the accident,” Lefebvre said. “It was icy and slippery.”
Lefebvre said students who drive fire trucks have to be certified just like veterans. “They go through an in-house training program. Everyone who drives gets the exact same training,” Lefebvre said.
Lefebvre said the fire truck operates out of the West Gorham Fire Station on Route 25. He said the truck is covered by insurance and is awaiting repairs.
The Gorham police report said the truck was traveling north on the road covered with snow and ice. The report said the incident occurred at 6:40 a.m. on a curved incline.
The fire truck went off the road into a culvert after it began fishtailing, according to police. The front passenger side of the fire truck was damaged.
Lefebvre said the truck was carrying 3,000 gallons of water. “It was loaded,” Lefebvre said.
Gorham participates in a live-in student program with Southern Maine Community College to help augment the fire department’s full-time staff of seven, including Lefebvre, and a shrinking number of call people. Gorham has about 75 active call members, down from 200 in 1984.
“A decline in volunteers and call people is happening across the nation,” Lefebvre said.
Live-in students stay free in apartments at Gorham’s fire stations in exchange for being on duty 10 p.m. to 7 a.m.
“It’s been a huge help,” Lefebvre said about the program, which gets trucks on the road fast.
Students enrolled in Southern Maine Community College’s two-year fire science major earn an associate degree.
Lefebvre has asked the town council for five additional full-time employees with firefighting and emergency medical training. He said the cost would be $53,000 each for wages and benefits.
The council’s finance committee is reviewing Lefebvre’s request. Town Councilor Phil Dugas, a member of the finance committee, has asked Town Manager David Cole to provide costs for two.
If the town approves additional staff, it wouldn’t eliminate the need for the live-in students, Lefebvre said.
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