Fire and Rescue History

The History of Durham Fire & Rescue

In 1948, a group of volunteers formed the first fire department in the town of Durham. Two years later, the department became incorporated, making it the Durham Volunteer Fire Department, Inc. At the time, the fledgling department was supported solely by the fundraising efforts of the volunteers. The department had minimal equipment and did not have a station until sometime in the 1950’s.

In November of 1974, the department became a Town of Durham municipal department when the property, building, and equipment were all turned over to the town. At that time the town purchased its first new engine.

STATION

The first station was built on the same lot as the current fire station on Hallowell Road. That building was a two-bay barn with a meeting room on the second floor; an additional two bays were added to the back of the structure around 1965. The station remained the same until 1982, when a new facility was erected behind the original station. The new station featured four bays, a meeting room, a kitchen, a bathroom, and a hose tower. Once the new building was completed the original barn was torn down.

In July of 2002, a new building which doubled the footprint of the station was completed, which is the building that stands today. The Durham fire station now consists of a meeting room equipped with telecommunication equipment, four administrative offices, two bathrooms (one of which has a handicapped accessible shower), six bays, a full kitchen, and two storage rooms.

DISPATCH

Until 1997, the Durham Fire Department used what was called a "Red-Phone" system for dispatching. There were four or five dispatchers on the department who had “red phones” in their homes. When a person called the emergency number, the dispatchers would take the call and alert members of the department on their call list by phone. There was also a button on the side of the red phones that would activate the siren at the top of the hose tower at the station.

In 1997, the department began to be dispatched over its radio frequency. Until the state transitioned to 9-1-1 for all emergency calls, the seven digit emergency number would ring into dispatch in Freeport, who would dispatch the call and once a dispatcher arrived at the station, radio communications were handled in-house. In early 2008, dispatch moved to the Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Department, where the entire call is dispatched.

RESCUE

The rescue portion of the Durham Fire Department was formed in 1997 as a First Responder service. Until then, EMS responses were handled by Lisbon Emergency, Freeport Rescue, and United Ambulance. In 1999, the Town of Durham contracted with Lisbon Emergency to cover all emergency transports. In 2001, the contract was awarded to Northeast Mobile Health Services of Brunswick.

NEMHS donated the first Rescue to the department, and in 2004, the Town purchased a used box-type ambulance from the Town of North Yarmouth. Shortly after that, the department began transporting nights and weekends.

In 2005, Durham Fire and Rescue began transporting all of the emergency calls. The Town authorized the purchase of a brand-new Rescue in 2007, which is paid for by the revenues from transporting.