South Berwick officials propose town-run, fire-based ambulance service starting July 1, 2026

South Berwick Town Manager Tim proposed on Tuesday that the town move its ambulance service from a private contractor to a municipal, fire-department–based emergency medical service beginning July 1, 2026. The plan calls for buying one new and one used ambulance, hiring four paramedic firefighters and four firefighter-EMTs, and running a staffed ambulance program out of the fire station.

The proposal grew from what Tim described as repeated contract and staffing problems with the current private ambulance provider. “As you know, we have a contractor service ambulance company. Several years ago, they went up significantly on our contract … and we determined later that they did not pass that increase onto Rawlingsford or to the town of York, only us,” Tim said, arguing the town must consider “the long term solvency of how we deliver our EMS service to our citizens.”

Fire Chief (name not specified) walked the council through operational and timeline details and said the department would order a new ambulance immediately and expects delivery about 18 months later. “Here we’re proposing to start providing emergency ambulance service here in town under the fire department starting July first of 2026,” the chief said. Under the plan, the department would cross-train personnel so firefighters could staff ambulances and respond as a single unified team.

Why it matters: town leaders said private ambulance providers statewide are under financial…