PORTLAND, Maine — Maine’s fire marshal for the past 14 years is retiring at the end of the month.
John C. Dean of Winthrop was a Maine firefighter for 27 years before becoming fire marshal in 1998. He was a member of the Old Town department from 1971 to 1989, rising to the rank of deputy chief. He was Wells fire chief from 1989 to 1998.
Dean oversaw the updating of Maine’s fire codes. He also oversaw the reduction in inspection backlogs by his office of public buildings, day care centers and nursing homes. He promoted legislation to prohibit the sale of novelty lighters, the enactment of fire-safe cigarettes and the establishment of Maine’s Juvenile Fire Safety Collaborative.
Assistant Fire Marshal Joseph Thomas will serve as acting fire marshal until a successor is named.
Like so many firefighters, John Dean has always been in love with the limelight as well as with himself. Several years ago, Dean along with another Winthrop firefighter attempted to build a costly Taj Mahal in a Sloughhole on Route 202 that the town of Winthrop did not need. The Winthrop voters declined to build the Taj Mahal by a two-thirds vote. As the English say of people like Dean, I and many of the Winthrop taxpayers are not saddened in any way to “see the back of him.”
That has to be the most hideous uniform I have ever seen.
Maybe he secretly wanted to be a Mountie………plus I think he doesn’t like fireworks….or what we’ll have to re-define as “Maine ground sparklers”………
Tooooo muchhhhh overtime! When you have investigators making 40 to 50 thousand in overtime, something is wrong
Yeah, it’s called being understaffed.
No it’s bilking the system. Yes fatal fires should be investigated, but most of the fires are not fatals. They do not need a immediate response all the time. It’s being done for the insurance companies.