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Middletown fire chief warns dive responses are stretching local rescue resources
Summary
Fire Chief Albert said recent dive responses have required drives of roughly 45 minutes, prompting talks with neighboring departments about setting a practical mutual‑aid radius so Middletown retains local coverage. No formal policy change was adopted at the April 27 meeting.
Chief Albert warned April 27 that Middletown’s rescue dive team is being dispatched increasingly far from the city — one recent call required about a 45‑minute drive to East Adam — and said that trend is undermining local coverage.
"We're a rescue dive team. We're not a recovery dive team," Chief Albert said, arguing that long deployments leave Middletown short of resources for incidents at home. He described arriving to find the team already an hour into an incident and expressed concern about being unable to respond if a second emergency occurred in Middletown.
Albert recounted a recent vehicle‑in‑water response in which Hill requested a dive team and crews confirmed the car was empty on arrival. He said the episode reinforced his point that the department must be prudent about where it will accept long mutual‑aid commitments.
He said he has begun discussions with neighboring agencies, including South Fire Portland and Valley Shore, and met recently with Chief Chrowski to explore setting a response radius or other parameters (Albert cited "Adam Meadows" as an example geographic cutoff). "Mutual aid is mutual," he said, "you're gonna get something back in return," but he added some requests have produced little reciprocal benefit for Middletown.
The chief framed the talks as risk‑management: long drives to distant incidents can put the city at risk if another call arises while crews are committed elsewhere. He said the department’s role is to protect Middletown residents and visitors and that any policy should preserve a baseline of local readiness.
No ordinance or formal mutual‑aid policy was adopted at the meeting; Albert said talks will continue and that he expects follow‑up meetings after the upcoming vacation period. He also said the department will coordinate with regional partners to develop practical parameters rather than unilaterally refusing requests.
The chief’s remarks were part of his monthly report to the Special Public Safety Commission; commissioners did not vote on mutual‑aid changes at the April 27 session.
