Dresden Fire and Rescue

We have Christmas trees that we will be selling every weekend from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. beginning Saturday, November 27 at our Pownalborough Fire Station located on Patterson/River Road. Trees range from 5′ to 7′ and are only priced at $30.00 each. If you are unable to make it on a weekend, you can go to the station on Wednesdays during the weekly meeting or call (207) 737-2566 and we will help you get one at your convenience.

We hope you’ll stop by to purchase a tree and help our fundraising efforts.

Have a safe, healthy, and happy holiday season. Use care with your tree by making sure it has plenty of water and all your light strings are safe.

On Tuesday, March 09, 2021 there will be a special town meeting to vote on the following proposal:

The Dresden Fire Department is requesting the purchase of a Tanker/Pumper fire apparatus to replace two of the oldest trucks in their fleet. The new truck would be a combined tanker/pumper holding 2500 gallons and would be an automatic making it easier to find personnel to drive as many are not acclimated to driving a multi-speed standard. The new truck will come with a nicely presented warranty and will also save on maintenance and other costs as this will replace two vehicles. The fire department will sell the two older trucks through sealed bids. The money from the sales will be applied to the purchase of the new apparatus. Information on the two trucks for sale can be gotten by either contacting the Fire Chief at 737-9434 or the Town Office at 737-4335.

The special Town Meeting will be held at 6:00 p.m. in Powalborough Hall. We will be following the guidelines for gatherings in regard to social distancing and face coverings as set forth by the Maine CDC and the Governor’s Office.

Residents are encouraged and invited to attend; ask questions, make comments and place your vote.

NOTICE TO DRESDEN RESIDENTS:  Although there had been a controversy with the State Fire Marshal’s Office in regard to the wardensreport.com  website for obtaining free open burning permits, the issue has been resolved and you are now able to use this website to get your free permit.  Remember that fire conditions will apply.  All open burning requires a permit.  Unattended or any burning without a permit can be subject to fines.

In 2018, it has become possible for all issuing agents and fire personnel to get notice whenever a permit is issued.  This aids us in the event that someone should have a problem and require assistance from the fire department.

Burn permits may be obtained AT NO CHARGE from the following issuing agents:

Chief – Steve Lilly – 737-9434

Assistant Chief – Mike Nylen – 737-4532

Deputy Fire Warden – Shari Lilly – 737-2566

Permits are issued after 3 p.m. during the week and after 9 a.m. on weekends depending on the State classification for the day and current weather conditions at time of permit request.

You may also purchase your permit online at the Maine.gov website for a fee of $7.00.

Maine Forest Service issues a ‘Classification’ for each day to indicate the safety of open burning.  They are listed as follows:

Class 1 – Low fire danger – permits can be issued.

Class 2 – Moderate fire danger –    ”

Class 3 – High fire danger – dry and easily flammable.  Check with your issuing agent(s) for your town.

Class 4 – Very high fire danger – fire danger is too high to allow open burning….no permits will be issued.

Class 5 – RED FLAG….Absolutely no open burning will be allowed until further notice.

Please be very aware of the dangers.  If you are not sure, please take the time to call one of the issuing agents for your town.  Here in Dresden those who are able to issue permits are the following:

Chief – Steve Lilly – 737-9434

Assist. Chief – Ron Theriault

F.F. – Sonia Lilly – 737-9429

Deputy – Shari Lilly – 737-2566

Permits may be obtained online at http://www.wardensreport.com.  You MUST have a printer to make a copy of the permit and have it with you while you are burning.  This is a free service.

LET’S ALL BE SAFE AND USE COMMON SENSE AND GOOD PRACTICES WHEN IT COMES TO BURNING OF DEBRIS, ETC.

UPDATE 2016:  Well, we have had our 6 x 6 UTV in use a couple of times and it has already shown to be a great addition to our department.  Now we are in the process of getting other important equipment to add to it so as to make it more versatile.  Our local snowmobile club (Dresden Sno-Valley Riders) has recently donated money to go towards the purchase of some tracks that will help when needed in the winter for snow covered areas.  The cost of these tracks will be at least $4500.00.  We know it will take time to raise the money, so if anyone would like to make a donation, it would be greatly appreciated.  Just please make sure you specify that your donation is to be put towards that equipment.  You can mail a donation to the Town of Dresden, Fire Department UTV account, P. O. Box 30, Dresden Maine  04342.    Thank you.

UPDATE:  WE HAVE OUR NEW POLARIS RANGER 6 X 6 ATV…!   Thanks to donations, money from bottle & can returns, fund raising events through the Dresden Fire Association, and money from the DFD equipment account, we were able to purchase the UTV, which we got from Team Woody’s Sports Center in Topsham, Maine.  They were very helpful in giving us a price that would allow us to purchase the UTV sooner than we had thought.  And, they went above and beyond with each step of the process from ordering to the finish work.  It was nice to deal with such professionals who are friendly, willing to work with us and keep it fairly local.  With all the support from our community, friends, members and those who have donated in one way or another, things like this are made possible.  So, we want to thank everyone who has made this a reality.  THANK YOU.  Now, we will be working to raise enough money for a trailer to haul it on and some equipment that will be useful to the firefighters, such as water tanks for woods fires or rescue equipment.

It is with great appreciation that the members of our department wish to recognize our former local ATV Club….The EASTERN RIVER RIDGE RUNNERS.  As a small group, they established this club with the intent of developing an ATV trail system that would make it easier for people to enjoy our surroundings. However, as time passed, many issues brought a low volume of interest and participation.  So, unfortunately, the club ceased to be active.  Due to the number of years that have since gone by that the club has been inactive, some of the members got together and made the decision that there isn’t enough interest to get the club going again, so they voted to disperse the club money by donating it to different organizations in our own town.  It is with great pleasure and gratitude that the Dresden Fire Department is one of the recipients.  The ERRR members voted to donate $4,000.00 to be put in our fund for the 6 wheel RTV.  This is such a wonderful donation and it puts us that much closer to our goal.  Although we still have a ways to go, this has brought us such great enthusiasm that we will be able to make our purchase a lot sooner than we thought. We are hoping that others will be inspired to also help out.  Even the smallest of donations will add up.  I personally want to thank all those members who voted to be so generous and help out our community fire department.  This is what a small group of people can accomplish.  Thank you all so very much.

Congratulations to  Jason Bryant, Tyler Cray, Sabrina Doray, Jordan Mayo and Tyler Pierce who have recently completed the 72 hour course for the mandatory Firefighter training.  We are proud of your accomplishment.

Welcome to the website of the Dresden, Maine Fire Department.     We hope to provide you with information and articles that will be informative and of interest.  Please take the time to check out the personnel on our website who are very dedicated to looking out for all of us in our community and assisting those around us when needed.  We take great pride in doing what we do and hope you will enjoy checking out our website.  You can even leave a comment or whatever.  Please know that all towns are experiencing a shortage of firefighters, so if you have any interest and the willingness to commit to this type of service to your community, we are always looking for more volunteers.  If you have anything you would like to see us post…questions, suggestions, comments, points of interests….please let us know.

During the months between April and November, we are notified from the State Fire Marshal’s Office as to what the conditions for any opening burning will be for each day.  Here in Dresden, during these months, we will issue permits after 5 p.m. during the weekdays and after 9 a.m. on the weekends.  The issuing of permits will depend on what the ‘Class’ day is for our zone, as well as what the conditions may be in regard to wind speeds.  During the months when we have snow on the ground, we will issue permits any day after 9 a.m. providing there are no high winds.  Permits will need to be filled out and signed by the person who will be responsible for it.  It will list all things that you are not allowed to burn.  We ask any resident who is planning to burn debris to please call one of the agents who can issue the permit on the day you will burn.  Those agents are listed below and, because you may want to check first to see if we are issuing permits, their phone numbers are included .

(Chief/Fire Warden) Steve Lilly  737-9434       (Assistant Chief)  Ron Theriault   737-8771

(F.F./EMA Director) Sonia Lilly 737-9429        (Deputy Warden) Shari Lilly        737-2566

Permits can also be obtained online, for a fee, through the State of Maine Forestry website.

Also, please remember that if you have trouble with your fire and it gets to be more than you can handle, call 9-1-1 and the dispatchers at Lincoln County Communications will alert the fire department.  It’s better to be safe than sorry, especially with fire.

On Sunday, April 26, 2014, the Dresden Volunteer Fire Department was awarded the Community Service Award for Dresden by the members of Enterprise Grange #48 of Richmond.  This award is given each year by the Grange to a special person or organization that is chosen from nominees that have been presented to them.  They choose one for Richmond and one for Dresden.  As many towns depend so much on volunteers who are more than willing and ready to take on the many challenges, duties and responsibilities to protect their families, neighbors and communities, we were very pleased that our department was chosen for this year’s award.  Although many of the members were engaged in other activities on that day, we were very well represented by those in attendance.  The Grange members took the time to make each member a certificate with their name, framed a certificate for the department to hang on the station wall and had a wonderful buffet of finger foods, drinks and desserts.  Along with all that, they paid a very special tribute to our members.  One of the tributes was the reading of the following of which has no author to give credit:

FIREFIGHTER’S GLOVES

A Firefighter’s Gloves hold many things – from elderly arms to a kid’s broken swing.                    From the hands they shake and the backs they pat, to the tiny claw marks of another treed cat. At 2 a.m. they are filled with chrome from the DWI who was on her way home and the equipment they use to roll back the dash from the family of six she involved in the crash.

The brush rakes in Spring, wear the palms out when the wind does a “90” to fill them with doubt, the thumb of the gloves wipes the sweat from the brow of the face of a firefighter who mutters “What now?”

They hold inch and three quarters flowing one twenty five so the ones going in, come back out alive.  When the regulator goes, then there isn’t too much, but the bypass valve they eagerly clutch.  The rescue equipment, the ropes, the C-collars; the lives they saved never measured in dollars, are the obvious things firefighters’ gloves hold, or, so that is what I’ve been always told.

But there are other things Firefighters’ Gloves touch – those are the things we all need so much.  They hold back the rage on that 3 a.m. call; they hold in the fear when you’re lost in a hall; they hold back the pity, agony, sorrow; they hold in the desire to “Do it tomorrow”.

A glove’s just a glove till it’s on firefighters, who work all day long just to pull an all-nighter.  And into the fray they charge without fear at the sound of a “Help” they think that they hear.

When firefighter’s hands go into the glove, it’s a firefighter who always fills it with love.  Sometimes the sorrow is too much to bear and it seeps the glove and burns deep “in there”.  Off come the gloves when the call is done and into the pocket until the next call.

The hands become lonely and cold for a bit and shake just thinking of it.

And they sit there so red-eyed with their gloves in their coats, the tears come so fast that the furniture floats.  They’re not so brave now; their hands they can’t hide.  I guess it just means they are human inside.  And though some are paid and others are not, the gloves feel the same when it’s cold or it’s hot, to someone you’re helping to just get along.  When you fill them with love, you always feel strong.

And so when I go on my final big ride, I hope to have my gloves by my side, to show to St. Peter at the heavenly gate ’cause as everyone knows, firefighters don’t wait.

PRAISE GOD FOR FIREFIGHTERS!