ELLSWORTH — Fire Chief Scott Guillerault has been on the job for only a little over two weeks but finds himself on familiar ground.
“I grew up in southern Maine and it’s nice to get back to [a] small town,” he said at a July 8 meet-and-greet he organized at the Riverside Café.
Guillerault originally hails from Old Orchard Beach and served with the Waterboro and Gardiner fire departments. But he spent most of the last two decades in South Carolina, as a firefighter, fire captain, paramedic and paramedic supervisor — and as a girls’ lacrosse coach.
As chief of the Ellsworth Fire Department, Guillerault is keeping the city’s role as a pass-through to Mount Desert Island in mind.
“This is a close-knit community,” he said. “We have a lot of transient population come through. My job is, whether it’s [local or transient], we provide the best service to the individuals.”
While he was still reviewing deputy fire chief resumes ahead of the July 9 closing date for submitting applications, the firefighters already on hand are an “excellent group of guys,” Guillerault noted.
ELLSWORTH AMERICAN PHOTO BY ANNE BERLEANT
A licensed emergency medical technician, Guillerault knows the city may start its own medical transport service and wants his deputy chief to hold EMS qualifications.
“We’re trying to build a strong foundation, if we [do] pursue the EMT route,” he noted.
He also noted that more firefighters will be needed on staff in the future.
“As the population grows, the call volume will increase,” he said. “Our growth has to be data-driven.”
Guillerault moved back to Maine with his wife. He has three sons residing in southern Maine and two daughters, one in Newport and one in South Carolina.
Anne Berleant
Leave a Reply