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A Lincoln town councilor wants to dramatically slash the town’s budget — and those cuts would create longer response times for emergencies, the Lincoln Fire Department warns.
David Ireland, vice chairman of the Lincoln Town Council, proposed a budget that would issue cuts in nearly every department, including a 20% reduction to the fire department.
If that budget passes, the fire department will have to cut staff. That means it would take longer for fire and medical personnel to respond to emergencies.
“It would change the whole way we do business,” Chief Les Brown said.
Ireland’s is one of three proposed budgets in Lincoln, which has endured recent turmoil as it is on its third town manager in less than a year. One town manager was allegedly fired because four conservative councilors decided he wasn’t moving quickly enough on budget cuts, the BDN previously reported. Those four councilors are now the targets of recall petitions.
Ireland proposed a budget that would revert the town to the same budget it had in 2021 plus an additional 34%, which he said is to account for inflation.
Ireland did not respond to a request for comment.
Either of the other two budgets would be fine for the Lincoln Fire Department, but Ireland’s would include drastic cuts, Capt. Ken Goslin said.
Ireland’s proposed budget for the fire department is $1,670,246, nearly $400,000 less than what the town proposed. The department requested $2.1 million.
Budget cuts would mean the fire department would have to reduce its staffing, because salaries make up a large part of the costs, Goslin said.
“We’ve fought very hard to get that staffing,” Goslin said.
There are five people on duty at a time, which means if an ambulance is on a call, there are still three people at the station to respond to any additional calls.
If a patient needs to be taken to Bangor or Houlton, that is two hours of driving time alone, plus time at the scene to stabilize the patient, Brown said. If additional calls come in during that time, any remaining staff is depleted.
There are weekly instances where multiple calls come at the same time, and without enough staff, people will have to wait for an ambulance or fire truck, Goslin said.
Lincoln fire and EMS has contracts to cover Winn and Chester. The town also sends ambulances to Macwahoc and Reed plantations. The driving time alone to those areas is long, Brown said.
The department will try to call in off-duty personnel if necessary, but they are not always available.
“I think most people — I don’t mean this in a derogatory way — most people don’t think about the fire department until they need it,” Goslin said. “They drive by, they see the fire trucks, they see people working during the day, they know that we’re here, and I would assume the presumption is when we need them, they’ll be there.”
Running an ambulance service is expensive but the department took it on once Penobscot Valley Hospital stopped its service, Goslin said.
“It’s expensive to have a full time fire department, but when the rubber meets the road, when lives are hanging in the balance — not to sound dramatic, but that’s the way it is sometimes — the only thing that can make the difference is having enough people, enough well trained people to answer those calls,” Goslin said.
The next budget hearing is 6 p.m. Monday, June 15, at Region III, Northern Penobscot Technical Center, located at 35 W Broadway.