'Politics won't affect our response over the bridge'

Milton Fire Chief Nick Marique

MILTON - Milton Fire and Rescue Chief Nick Marique wants the residents of West Lebanon to rest assured that they will be served no matter what the politics or response pay fee is on any given day.

"We're going to continue to provide service to who needs our help," he said on Friday. "Politics won't affect our response over the bridge."

Marique's comments came in the wake of the implementation on Monday of a $2,000 sole responder fee that Milton, North Berwick, Sanford and Frisbie EMS are expected to charge Lebanon whenever either of the four departments is the sole responder to an incident in Lebanon in which Lebanon's rescue department is unable to field a response.

Marique said while he signed off on the fee, Lebanon might not necessarily be charged every time Milton responds to a Lebanon incident in which Lebanon does not field a response.

He said he and Lebanon Rescue Chief Jenny Sheriff are currently working out details of protocols that might be used to determine whether mutual aid might apply even if Milton was the sole responder to a Lebanon incident.

While the details are not complete, Marique said it's all about patient care. For example, he noted if there were a critical medical call that called for immediate response over the bridge, the $2,000 fee might be waived. However, if after several tones for Lebanon service on a routine call that wasn't critical, the fee might apply.

More than any other surrounding town, Lebanon residents in close proximity to downtown Milton have come to rely on another town's emergency responders.

It's basically just a matter of geography. In less than a minute Milton Fire and Rescue Department responders can get from their headquarters on White Mountain Highway over the bridge and into Lebanon.

Meanwhile, Lebanon's Rescue vehicles are 10 minutes away from Milton, housed on Carl Broggi Highway in South Lebanon

As a result, Milton's mutual aid comes into play more often in Lebanon than the other way around.

Marique said about 5 percent of Milton's Rescue runs were into Lebanon last year.

He said Milton ambulances had responded to Lebanon 30 times this year, and 32 times last year.

Meanwhile, Lebanon Rescue provided mutual aid to Milton once this year and none at all last year.