To request the Fire Department or a Fire Officer for a non-emergency situation, dial 673-1414. For all other purposes, dial 673-1383 and a Fire Department official will return your call.

State law requires a written permit for any outside burning when there is no snow cover. Burning without a permit is a violation in which you can be held responsible for the cost of extinguishing the fire.

To obtain a permit, leave a message, in advance at 673-1383, or contact Chief Kevin E. Pomeroy at 673-9130. Always burn safely, have water on hand, and use precautions to protect the wood line. Every year the Department responds to non-permit [illegal fires]. Illegal fires cause damage every year to our state's natural resources. During dry periods or windy days, permits are not generally issued because of the chances of fire getting out of control.

The Department continued its efforts to insure the safety of the citizens of Mont Vernon. The Fire Department puts on prevention and safety programs for Readiness to Third Grade. These programs discuss what to do in case of fire, home safety and escape plans, to call for help and how to help others. Your home and its belongings can be replaced, you and your family cannot be. We can not emphasis enough the importance of having working smoke detectors in your home, a proven device that saves lives and property. One should test smoke detectors monthly.

The Department is also asking each resident to insure that your home address is correct. We respond to an incident, in which the house driveway and frontage was on one road, but their address was for another road. This has been a problem in the past and can delay a fire, police, or ambulance from finding your house quickly. Example: If you lived on Smith Road, but have an Old Amherst Road number, there is a problem. Your driveway is connected to the road that should be your address. If you have questions or concerns, contact the town hall. Your number tells the emergency responder how far down a road you live and on which side. You should have a reflective street number displayed at your driveway entrance and large enough so that it is visible to approaching emergency personnel from any direction.

During 2005, the Mont Vernon Fire Department responded to 106 calls for assistance. This was a large increase from 2004, and included two structure fires: one small building used for animals and an arson building fire that also started a woods fire. The following is a breakdown of those incidents:

The Department also performed 5 residential sprinklers inspections; 7 oil burner inspections; 5 development site plan reviews; and tested 2 proposed water supply sites.

In February, the Department put in service our new Pumper-Tanker that was purchased with a Federal Grant.

In 2005, the Federal Grant for new protective gear was completed with gear being issued to the firefighters. This protective gear is what the firefighters wear while working at emergencies.

The Department applied for a Federal Grant to replace our breathing apparatus. We were notified in October that we had been approved for the grant in the amount of $99,300.00. The Fire Department Association voted to spend $6,000.00 out of its funds to provide the matching funds. The Association sponsors events every year to raise money for the benefit of the firefighters and the department. Chief Pomeroy would like to thank Tony Immorlica for his assitance in putting together this grant and the Association for its continued support of the Department.

The Fire Department Auxiliary has been coordinating the selling of Christmas Trees. The money raised from these events has allowed the Fire Department to purchase a K-12 cut saw. This saw is used to cut open roofs, walls, and steel framing. The Auxiliary provides support to the Fire Department during emergency operations and training exercises.

At this Town Meeting we will be asking your support on two warrant articles. The first warrant article is the continued funding of the Departments' capital reserve fund used for the replacement of fire apparatus. The next planned apparatus to be replaced is the 1980 Pierce International in 2010 to 2012.

The second warrant article is for the building of a new fire station. At last year's town meeting, we approved funds and the formation of a Fire Station Building Committee. The committee interviewed and hired Lauer Architects. Together they have developed a basic building design, site plan, and estimated the cost of the construction project for presentation at town meeting. The amount of this project is estimated at 2.1 million dollars. The proposed building will be built in the same place as the existing building to insure no loss of response time to areas of time. The existing building was built in 1947 out of cinder block and is in very poor condition. In 2002, an engineering study of the building was done and concluded that the building was at the end of its useful life and not to be used or occupied for any other uses. It was recommended that this be done within the next 2 years. This report can be viewed on the Fire Department's web site, which is accessible through a link on the town web page. This project will take two years to complete, the bid process will be done this fall and construction will begin in April of 2007 and completed by November of 2007. If you have any questions about this project, you can contact Chief Kevin Pomeroy or E-mail us at mvfdstation@tds.net. The committee members (are member of the Fire Department and citizens at large) Kevin Pomeroy, Jay Wilson, Sean Mamone, Lucien Soucy, Bill Davidson, Jack Esposito, Robert Wolfe

Thank you,

Respectfully submitted,

Chief Kevin Pomeroy

Deputy Chief Jay S. Wilson Deputy Chief Sean Mamone

The members of the Mont Vernon Fire Department and Auxiliary

Tony Amadon, David Bellamy, Robert Chamberlain, Rick Crocker,

Bill Davidson, James DeWitt, Dave Hall, Charlie Ingham, Mike Jolin,

Elliot Chip Lyon, Sean Mamone, Jeff Naber, Brian Parliman,

Greg Pomeroy, Kevin E. Pomeroy, Kirk Pomeroy, Lucien Soucy,

Lou Springer, Mike Wells, Todd Wilkins, Jay S. Wilson, John Wilson, and Randy Wilson

Angela Bellamy, Janna DeWitt, Jessica Hardwick, Julie Howard,

Dawn Lyon, Kelley Parliman, Linda Pomeroy, and Sharon Soucy