Lebanon Fire and EMS Chief Dan Meehan Announces Agreement With Milton NH.

The Chief of the Lebanon Fire and EMS Department, Daniel Meehan, proudly shares this letter from Chief Nick Marique of the Milton, New Hampshire Fire Department. I had the opportunity to speak with Chief Meehan this evening about the letter, and he was pleased that the ongoing meetings he has had with Chief Marique and the Town of Milton have resulted in such positive recognition of his EMTs and Fire personnel. Meehan first took the time to say that the hard work and dedication of all of his volunteers and paid staff are what have helped him to be able to show that the Department is dedicated and working to correct the errors of the past and are looking to move forward in a positive direction. Similar issues have been resolved with both Sanford Fire and Rescue and with Frisbie Memorial Hospital EMS in Rochester, NH, and Chief Meehan is waiting for written confirmation that the town's past debt for responses from those Departments have been resolved. The final paragraph of the letter mentions a little something that the two Chiefs have been hammering away at for some time. A dedicated Mutual Aid agreement that would benefit both towns, but that specifically would call attention to the area of Lebanon that borders Milton, NH. Recent articles in "The Lebanon Voice" have called for such a Mutual Aid agreement, but Chief Meehan says that the two towns have been working on this since the beginning of March, tossing ideas at one another and changing and rewriting the agreement so that both towns will benefit. In a conversation with Meehan this evening, he said that this is not a handshake agreement, but would be a written agreement between the two Departments that highlights exact actions and agreements each town would take. When asked if we can expect to see a new written policy between Milton and Lebanon Fire and EMS units by August 1st, the Chief made no promises, but said, "We're hoping!" Since accepting the leadership of the town's separate Fire and Rescue Departments in January 2015, Meehan and the members of his two departments have worked very hard to correct failing policies and financial mismanagement of the past. New training certification classes are once again being held in the Fire Station meeting room, several new EMTs are being trained using a $10,000.00 training grant from Frisbie Memorial Hospital, a combination of the two departments as of July 1, 2015, an increased and adequate budgeting of the department's needs, and new policies and staffing have been put in place. The letter from Milton should be considered a feather in both the caps of Milton's Chief Nick Marique and Lebanon's Chief Meehan. The excuse of Lebanon's debt from past Rescue Departments, and the acknowledgement of a working dedicated Mutual Aid Agreement for the two towns have been needed for a long while now. We're proud of Lebanon's Fire and EMS Department this evening!! Congratulations to every one of the hard working Firefighters and EMT's who have worked to bring the department around and put it back as a source of pride and honor for our town. Congratulations to Milton's Chief Marique and his department as well, I'm sure that he has been careful to insure that the agreement will be a benefit to Milton's residents.