Former Ellsworth fire chief dies at 57

BROOKSVILLE – Former Ellsworth Fire Chief Everett E. Farnsworth has died after a battle with cancer.

Farnsworth died Thursday at his home. He was 57.

Born in Biddeford, Farnsworth attended Ellsworth schools. The former chief had spent most of his adult life as a firefighter, joining the Ellsworth department in 1968. He worked his way up through the ranks and in 1986 took over the post of chief.

“Everett was an excellent chief for the city’s Fire Department,” Ellsworth Fire Chief Robert McKenney said. “He was very instrumental in helping the Fire Department to progress.”

Farnsworth put a great deal of faith in the people who worked under him, McKenney said.

“He let the crew do their work as long as it was done satisfactorily and in the best interests of the city and the Fire Department,” he said. “And he was quick to give credit where credit was due.”

Farnsworth trusted his crews, according to City Councilor Gary Fortier, who also is a volunteer firefighter for the city.

“Chief Farnsworth didn’t know all the answers, but he trusted”

his people to find the answers,” Fortier said. “He surrounded himself with a very good group of individuals.”

He worked not only on getting good people, but also to provide them with the equipment they needed. He worked well with the City Council in getting that equipment, McKenney said.

Farnsworth became chief at time of tremendous change in the Ellsworth Fire Department, Fortier said.

“That was when we started on the road to becoming more professional,” he said. “He put more emphasis on training, inspections and public education.”

Farnsworth was a strong proponent of the in-school fire prevention programs and worked with his firefighters to give them time to go into the schools.

Those progressive efforts weren’t restricted just to the Ellsworth department. Farnsworth was active in the county firefighters association. He did a lot for the county, helping with joint training efforts and with developing adequate radio communications, according to Paul McCann, the former fire chief in Bucksport.

Farnsworth retired from the Ellsworth Fire Department in 1996 after 28 years. He and his wife, Audrey, had moved into an old farmhouse in Brooksville two years earlier, and it was there that they spent their retirement.