Through six months, you are living in an even safer community than you may have before the merger between the Brussels-Union-Gardner Fire Department and the communities’ two Emergency Medical Responder (EMR) groups.

Fire Chief Curt Vandertie issued the mid-year checkpoint over the weekend after the three groups officially joined forces on January 1st. While two members have left since then, the department has gained seven new members and has another two in the pipeline once they start training in October. The extra bodies are definitely being used with the jurisdiction experiencing a 13 percent increase in emergency medical calls. Despite this, the department has seen the number of “no response calls,” the result of no EMRs being available due to full-time jobs or other reasons, drop 77 percent. Vandertie was hopeful before the merger took place that coverage during emergencies and recruitment would improve once the changes were complete.

Vandertie remains thankful for the support of the towns’ leaders and the community, who trusted in combining services, and also for the firefighters and emergency medical responders who dedicate a significant amount of their time to protecting the area.