The year of 1997 saw the Fire Department start a new Fire Prevention campaign. One of the posters that we used showed a Firefighter in all his gear, covered with Soot, mud and debris, soaking wet and looking exhausted. The caption to this poster said “PLEASE…. PUT US OUT OF BUSINESS!!”

While to many, this may be a strange idea, in our “Business” prevention is the number one priority, and it appears to me that our Customers have been paying attention. For many years, the Fire Department has been called for their assistance on average 115 times a year. The year of 2001 showed that we responded to just 59 calls, or almost one half of the average! I am very pleased with this statistic and would be overjoyed to see that number cut in half again for 2002.

Our calls fell into the following categories:
Hazardous Materials Calls 8 Automatic Alarms, False 8 Automobile Fires 3
Structure Fires 12 Vegetation Fires 10 Mutual Aid to others 8 motor vehicle Accidents 4 Utility Lines 4 Other Calls 2

Having a lower number of calls allowed us to catch our breath and to work on the many programs that we are called on to do. Much needed maintenance was performed on both our trucks and equipment. Intense training was presented honing our skills and real progress was made in putting the towns “on paper” disaster plan into a working status.

While a 9-11 type of incident is not likely on the scale that New York had to deal with, a disaster similar to what the Town of Lincoln had to deal with is a real possibility. Our Emergency Management division has now in place the material and procedures to deal with this type of emergency and I applaud them for their time and efforts in doing so.

The towns fire protection abilities also saw a great improvement with the arrival of our new fire truck. The 2002 pumper came equipped with a 1500 gallon per minute pump and carries 1000 gallons of water. This truck will take the lion’s share of the load for our calls relieving the burden on our two 25 year old plus trucks.

The Fire Association has also been very busy this year. Through its fundraising activities such as the Haunted hay ride and dinners; they have raised a significant amount of funds for the Fire Department. More than $4,000 was raised and sent to the New York City Widows and Children’s fund after the 9-11 incident, $11,000 was raised to purchase a new set of Jaws of Life for the Fire Departments use, and numerous scholarships, welfare donations, and other projects that directly aided the town were made during the year. In all, during the Associations short existence, the funds that they have raised and donated back to the Town is rapidly approaching $50,000. I applaud them for all their efforts and their selfless dedication to the community.

While I wish that I could report that progress has been made in solving the impossible working conditions at the Fire Station, alas I cannot. As many a Red Sox fan has said, and I see that it fits here, “Maybe next year”

In the wake of the 9-11 incident, the most common question that was asked in and around New York was “what can I do to help?” Mayor Giuliani said it best: “Volunteer to your community. Be it with your Volunteer Fire Department, EMS provider or one of the many boards or committees. Be active give of yourself to your community.” Your emergency service providers will always need more help. Both the Ambulance and the Fire Department rely on volunteers to provide what they do. There will always be something that any citizen can do to help.

On behalf of the Towns people and the visitors, I wish to express my heartfelt thanks to the Officers and Firefighters of the Fire Department and the Members of the Fire Association for the time and talents. Your efforts have not gone unnoticed nor unappreciated.

Respectfully Submitted
Samuel T. Chisholm, Chief