Residents needed for new fire station study committee

The Wareham Fire District needs volunteers for a study committee which will make a recommendation on the replacement of the aging fire station on Main Street.

The study committee will assess whether the fire station at 273 Main Street should be replaced with a new building, renovated, or relocated and then draft a recommendation for fire officials.

The committee will consist of two members of the Prudential Committee, the board that oversees the fire district, four active members of the Wareham Fire Department, the fire chief and two “citizens at large.”

The citizens at large must be Wareham residents and registered voters in the Wareham Fire District.

Plans to replace the Main Street station have been in progress for at least a decade, according to Assistant Fire Chief Mark Rogers.

Rogers explained that the station was built in the 1960s before the department had any full-time firefighters. Currently, five firefighters live at the station full-time and the amount of both personnel and equipment has significantly increased.

“[The station] is overcrowded. It has served its usefulness and it needs to be upgraded,” Rogers said.

Currently there isn’t a timeline or a budget for the project. Rogers said it’s possible construction won’t begin for three to five years.

The purpose of the study committee is to recommend how the district should proceed so that officials can begin planning and budgeting proposed construction. Its mandate is to consider the needs of the fire department and the financial impact to the community.

Rogers said the citizen volunteers who join the committee should be open minded, have knowledge of the district and know how the fire department operates. He also said some construction background is preferred but not required.

Applicants should write a letter-of-interest addressed to Prudential Committee Chair George Barrett.

Letters can be dropped off or mailed to 2550 Cranberry Highway or emailed to joyce.bacchiocci@warehamfiredistrict.org.

The deadline for application is Feb. 20.