By Kerri Pepoy,Staff Writer

OTISFIELD – The longtime fire chief is stepping down after 20 years of service to spend more time with family.

Garry Dyer, who joined the town’s fire department at age 16 and has been a firefighter for 49 years, said he doesn’t plan to leave the fire department.

“I still want to be a firefighter,” Dyer said Wednesday at the regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen. “But I want to spend more time with my family.”

The decision to retire was difficult for Dyer, who fought back tears as he spoke. “I decided to retire before Christmas as fire chief,” he said. “So I declined the nomination to serve as chief.”

He thanked his family members and fellow firefighters for supporting him for many years while he served as chief.

Dyer lives in Otisfield with his wife, Deborah, and has three daughters – Elizabeth, Amanda and Dorothy.

On Wednesday he gave his chief’s hat and other items to Mike Hooker, a four-year veteran of the fire department who will take over as chief.

Hooker was recently elected by the fire department members to serve as chief, and he was formally appointed Wednesday by Selectmen Mark Cyr, Tom Nurmi and Lenny Adler.

Frank Blauvelt, a town firefighter who served as chief for several years in the 1970s, said Dyer instilled a positive environment at the fire department and was always available to his firefighters and the community.

“Garry rarely took vacation because he wanted to make sure he was available,” Blauvelt said. He also credited Dyer with enlisting new members at the department and upgrading training.