Veazie Fire Department requests higher funding

VEAZIE — The Veazie Fire Department has asked for a 20 percent increase in its budget for the coming year, Town Manager Bill Reed said Friday.

The big increase this year is mainly because of Fire Chief Sherman Lahaie’s request for additional funds for training, which will account for 35 percent of the overall budget increase.

The chief would like to bring all members of the department up to a Level 3 in firefighting ability. When that is achieved, the chief will seek a national insurance rate review. By training firefighters and updating the equipment, the town would most likely be able to lower its fire insurance rates overall.

LaHaie is the perfect man to see this training through, Reed said, because he is the former Lewiston fire chief and is the deputy administrator of Maine Fire Training and Education of the Northeast Region at the Eastern Maine Vocational Technical College in Bangor.