POLAND – The town’s new fire and rescue chief is what Mainers refer to as “from away.”

Chief Willie Rice unmistakably has a Southern accent and is still searching for a diner that serves grits while he waits to close the deal on his new house.

But Rice also has 28 years of fire department experience that has quickly earned him the respect of the community. The town chose Rice out of 20 applicants primarily based on his experience, Town Manger Richard Chick said.

“I’ll give him a lot of credit,” said Capt. Mark Bosse, who was hired as Poland’s first full-time firefighter five years ago. “A lot of people thought it wasn’t right to have an outsider come in and take over. But we’re fortunate to have the right person with the right mind-set.”

Rice landed in Poland after seeing an ad for a fire and rescue chief in the Sun Journal last year. He knew that his wife, who grew up in Rumford, had been wanting to return to Maine for a long time. He thought this would be the perfect opportunity for them.

Bosse said his fellow emergency workers, full- and part-time, have been impressed with Rice’s desire to understand the community and to assess the department’s needs as a professional.

“He didn’t come in here and try to change everything right away and stick notes all over the board,” said Bosse. “He’s really taking the time to evaluate everything, and he’s more than willing to listen.”

When Rice was hired, selectmen directed him to unite Poland’s separate fire and rescue departments, which had been operating under two different part-time chiefs.

Town leaders decided that consolidating the different departments would improve efficiency and effectiveness in emergency responses, as well as ease budget considerations, said Chick.

“Our emergency services are too critical to be running in separate ways in the same building,” said Selectman Steve Robinson. “We are very lucky to have (Rice). He is doing a great job joining the groups and leading the department in the right direction.”

Rice said he felt comfortable dealing with the challenges because he worked with both types of emergency operations while he served in Chesterfield County, Virginia. Rice also started as a volunteer while employed as a construction worker. He worked his way up through the ranks and retired as a captain. The last two years in Virginia, Rice served as acting battalion chief of a department with 20 fire stations, 450 full-time responders, and 250 volunteers.

One immediate change that Rice has made is to construct an area for the public to come into the Fire and Rescue Station without compromising the security of the building, equipment, and staff. Residents routinely come into the station needing burn permits, said Rice. They can now come to a reception window, and a service bell will soon be installed.

Rice also solved the problem of overlapping dispatch calls because Poland shares the same emergency radio frequency with Monmouth. At times, the communications had caused confusion and presented potential safety problems.

The department is always looking for new volunteers, said Bosse. Anyone interested may call 998-4689.