Fire Chief Complains of Understaffing

The Central Maine Regional Communications Center is understaffed, leading to delayed dispatches to fire incidents, according to Chelsea fire chief Shawn Ramage. He pointed to one recent incident where there was a 30-minute delay in sending firefighters to a vehicle accident, and another last summer when firefighters were never dispatched to assist Augusta fire units with a warehouse fire. “The staffing levels there are not safe,” he said. “Ds do a good job. There’s just not enough of them.” The center was formed to consolidate several smaller comm centers, and has 21 dispatchers. But at least one official believes they should have at least six additional dispatchers. Read more about staffing and funding here.