TURNER – Just a month after being named chief of the Turner Volunteer Fire Department, Michael Arsenault has brought together a team of at least 46 volunteers who are putting to rest the turmoil that surrounded the department for the past two years.
Responding to his philosophy that “there are no unimportant jobs in fire service,” new recruits as well as veterans of the department are offering to fill needed jobs. And responding to selectmen’s call for greater cooperation between fire and rescue departments, members of both units are working as one when called into service.
Six firefighters who had left the department during the years of unrest rejoined the department the morning after Arsenault was appointed chief by selectmen. More than 20 new members have come on board since.
“He gets along with everybody,” said Selectman Dennis Richardson said after voting for Arsenault’s appointment.
Arsenault served in the department for more than 15 years, five as assistant chief, and is a basic emergency medical technician as well as a certified firefighter trainer.
Assistant Chief Ross Gagne, who has nearly two decades of service with the fire service, also is a basic EMT. They are the only two paid members of the department, at $1,250 and $500, respectively. All other volunteers will receive unit pay for calls they answer and training they attend.
Other officers appointed by Arsenault are Winfred Coleman, deputy chief, South Station; Rodney Guptill, captain, North Station; Leo Gagnone and Roland Lajoie, safety officers, and Jerry Forgues, equipment and safety officer.
New volunteers include Charlie Mock, a selectman, who signed on as a firefighter and brings with him his EMT-paramedic credentials from the Rescue Department. Rick Houghton is another volunteer firefighter with basic EMT credentials.
Volunteers who signed on with the department as firefighters and bring with them EMT and dispatch credentials are Kelly Cooper-Arsenault and Eric Breindenstein.
Similar EMT credentials are held by Brenda Parker, who has volunteered in traffic control, as have Michelle Arsenault, Sandy Phillipon, Lori Fish, Belinda Lyons, and Dan Chabot. Chris Boucher has been assigned to traffic control and as a clerk.
Pump operators with the department are Alfred Cochran and Jeff Hooper.
Firefighters on the roster at mid-July are Michael Mayo, James Allen, Shane Arsenault, Nathan Guptil, Keary Furka, Charlie Emerson, Tracey Giroux, Ben Herlihy, Steven A. Fish, Sam Jackson, John Brown, Justin Richardson, Adam Dupile, Kevin Nichols, Brandon Richardson, Lisa Guptil, Shawn Sierra, Brian Jarvis, John Arsenault, Dan Diambro, Jeff Timberlake, Calvin Rose, Dave Boucher, and Chris Lebrun.
Volunteer junior firefighters are Nicole Guptil and Calvin Rose Jr.
Arsenault’s appointment as chief on June 12 followed legal battles beginning in June 2005, when selectmen voted not to reappoint Steven A. Fish to the chief’s post. He had held that job for 10 years.
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