Bangor fire department outlines recruitment gains, training center plans and a new focus on mental-health supports

City officials told the Bangor City Council on May 21 that the fire department is beginning to recover from recent staffing shortages, with four recruits expected to finish training in June and another hiring event planned the same month.

The department has obtained roughly $200,000 in grant funding for training and has completed radio infrastructure work. Voters and council funding have secured money to build a new training center and a burn building. Staff said the department responds to roughly 9,900 calls per year and that emergency medical services revenue generates about $2.7 million annually.

Councilors and staff discussed equipment lead times (fire engines now sometimes take three to four years to build) and the department's vehicle replacement plan; staff recommended an engine replacement funded by bond and noted the city replaces at least one ambulance each year. The capital plan presented requested about $2.2 million; the proposed budget recommends roughly $2.1 million for those items.

Separately, several councilors raised concerns about mental health and suicide risk in the department. City staff described steps already under way: bolstering the peer-support program, defining confidentiality and standard operating procedures for peer support, and engaging a professional service to survey personnel and help design longer-term supports. Staff said they were considering whether a full-time licensed therapist embedded with public safety would be necessary and would vet that option as part of the work.

A request for a full-time training officer was on the list of new-program requests but was not funded in the manager's baseline proposal; staff and council discussed whether the position would improve training consistency and operational efficiency. Councilors asked for follow-up information and a future update on staffing, recruitment, and mental-health support planning.