MONROE — The county’s smallest town has re-established its volunteer fire department after all 15 members abruptly quit last fall.
The fire department — whose members make up about 12 percent of the town’s roughly 120 people — first fell apart when its former chief Douglas Oakes Jr. resigned, and all other members followed suit.
“This was a decision that was out of our control,” a Monroe Fire Department Facebook post announced on Aug. 21 last year. “As of (Monday), there is no longer a Monroe volunteer fire department.”
The firefighters resigned Aug. 20, the same day a special election was held to fill a vacant selectboard seat. At the election, 37 people — about 45 percent of voters — cast a ballot. Alice Houghtaling prevailed with 19 votes to Morgan Langlois’ 17 and Gloria Richard’s one.
Four of the new members also served on the old fire department, and reconsidered shortly after they resigned, Selectman and current Fire Chief David Gagne said.
Today, the department has five members who meet every week, he said. The volunteers train regularly with nearby towns, most commonly Florida and Readsboro, Vt.
Gagne said it is important to Monroe to have its own fire department because “the town has the budget for it.” Also, residents can respond to calls faster than departments in larger towns located 20 or even 45 minutes away.
“We don’t have to wait for people to come in from Charlemont or Greenfield,” Gagne said. “And we have the truck here. And the thing with keeping our own: we can train with Florida, they don’t have a problem with that, and we can train with Readsboro, they don’t have a problem with that, either.”
Though the department is firmly in place, there are some changes that need to be made.
Gagne said when Monroe has a fire, the first towns that are called are Rowe and Charlemont. This is a problem because some parts of Monroe are closer to Vermont, he said.
“It doesn’t even get to Florida and Readsboro for about the seventh tone out,” Gagne explained.
Also, Monroe’s emergency radio systems are often patchy and can only be heard in certain parts of town, Gagne said. Some areas of Monroe — for example, Gagne’s own home — do not receive a radio signal at all. If Gagne is at home, he can hear a tone, he said, but cannot hear the message, rendering the call useless. Gagne has worked around this by using a mobile app to receive the messages, which usually arrive instantly.
Reach Grace Bird at gbird@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 280.