I am honored to be the new President of the Maine Fire Chiefs’ Association. We have a wonderful organization that only seems to grow from year-to-year. In the coming two years, I hope we can focus on the membership.

We have increased our number of membership meetings and hope many will choose to attend meetings and make your voice heard. Our Conference continues to thrive and our summer meeting will be relocating to beautiful Bar Harbor (thanks to our friends in Hope for their work over the years)!

Keep watch for the launch of our new website in the coming months.

As the leading voice for the fire service in Maine, we have some challenges in our profession. The board of directors will soon be updating MFCA strategic goals to keep priorities fresh. Staffing continues to be an issue for all fire departments in Maine, and we will need to work on ways to address recruitment and retention.

Shortfalls in the delivery of Emergency Medical Services is a concern for fire-based EMS. Especially as smaller services close their doors and our organizations are called upon to fill the gaps. Working together we can help develop solutions leading into the future. Feel free to join a MFCA committee and get involved.

Thank you to all of our affiliate organizations that support us from year-to-year, and a special thanks to our MFCA membership. Lastly, thank you to those who have served us well over the past few years including Past President White, Executive Director Bill St. Michel, and Melissa White from Maine Municipal Association.

Feel free to reach out to me anytime.

Best to all,

Thomas Higgins