Local men committed to serving others
Two area men have dedicated decades to serving others, first through local fire departments and most recently with the state’s Fire Marshal’s Office.
Greg Day, formerly of Mars Hill, has been promoted to inspection supervisor with the agency, while Scott Cyr, of Fort Fairfield, joined the FMO as fire inspector after several years with the Presque Isle Fire Department.
Day’s career in firefighting began more than three decades ago.
“I was on the Easton Volunteer Fire Department in high school. It was such a family. I really enjoyed it,” said Day, noting he always had an interest in helping others, particularly through fire service, crediting his grandfather for urging him to “give back.”
“My grandfather, Chip Dodge, from Easton, always told me to give back to people and help them out. I have 31 years now in public safety,” said Day.
All of those years have been with the Maine Department of Public Safety, with the past 13 being with the Maine Fire Marshal’s Office.
“I joined the FMO in 2001. In October 2013 I was promoted to inspection supervisor, supervising fire inspectors in Penobscot, Washington, Hancock, Piscataquis, Somerset, Waldo, Knox and Lincoln counties. I was doing both jobs of supervisor and road inspector until Presque Isle firefighter Scott Cyr was hired,” said Day, who moved to the Bangor area to be more centrally located for his job.
“It’s also closer to my two daughters who both live in the Bangor area. It’s hard to leave The County, but I’ll be back often working with Scott,” he said.
Day explained what the agency does on a regular basis.
“The fire inspectors are responsible for inspecting various facilities — hospitals, nursing homes, ambulatory surgical centers, board and care facilities, home daycares, daycare centers, foster homes, adoption homes, licensed mental health counseling offices — for the Maine Department of Human Services for compliance with all Maine laws and the Life Safety Code, along with several National Fire Protection Association codes. Inspectors also inspect all public dancing facilities, above-ground gas storage tanks, self-service gas stations, indoor pyrotechnics and assist many town fire/code enforcement departments with inspections,” he said. “They also look at commercial building plans for construction requirements.”
Duties go beyond inspections however.
“Another large part of our job is to assist planning in mass gathering such as the Acadian Festival, large concerts, biathlons and other large events. There is never a dull day,” he said.
Day said all fire inspectors have to be certified by the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare to inspect health care facilities and also must attain Certified Fire Inspector rating from the National Fire Protection Association.
“The inspectors are always attending training to keep up with new safety equipment and technology,” Day said.
“Our job is to work with people to reach a certain safety level. Sometimes it takes a while to meet that level, however, we will work with building owners to achieve this,” Day said.
Like Day, Cyr has devoted more than two decades to ensuring the safety of others.
“I’ve worked in emergency services for over 20 years and have always been involved with public safety. I believe working as a fire inspector is a good job to have, if you want to make a difference to your communities. The findings you make when you become a fire inspector can help prevent a fire, the loss of property, as well as preventing possible injuries or deaths,” said Cyr.
Cyr had only been on the job about a week, when he was called to investigate the Caribou fire that claimed a mother and her three young children.
“The first week was a very busy one — which included several trips to southern Maine, where I was introduced to many of the other members within the Fire Marshal’s Office. I received training on some of the basic day-to-day operations, assisted with and trained on some of the common inspections that I would encounter and be responsible for,” he said.
Having served as a firefighter before joining the agency helped prepare Cyr to deal with the tragedy in Caribou.
“I assisted fire investigators at the fatal fire in Caribou. I have had many occasions during my time as a firefighter/paramedic where I have been involved with fatalities and it never gets easier, especially when children are involved,” said Cyr, a father himself.
While he has some of the training required for the position, Cyr said he’ll need a bit more.
“The training and life experiences I have received throughout my career as a firefighter and part-time code enforcement official definitely will lessen the amount of training I need for my new position, but I will still have to receive some additional training to be certified to conduct certain types of inspection, such as health care facilities and nursing homes, to name some,” he said.
As fire inspector, Cyr’s duties will be as Day indicated.
“I’ll also write reports and generate necessary correspondence to obtain code compliance and issue appropriate permits. I’ll act as a technical liaison between the fire department and other municipal enforcement agencies when requested. I’ll review new building construction and confer with other concerned city departments to determine compliance with requirements and make necessary contacts with developers, property owners, architects, engineers and contractors. I’ll also follow through with related field inspections and tests,” he said.
Cyr will be based out of Houlton.
“I am based out of Houlton and that’s where my office is, but I’ll also have space available in Bangor and Augusta offices, if needed, to complete paperwork that may need to be done,” said Cyr.
His assigned coverage area, once he’s completed training, will be from Allagash to Danforth.
“But there are occasions that I may conduct/assist with inspections in other parts of the state for one reason or another, such as covering an inspector that is on vacation, sick leave or maybe there’s a conflict of interest,” he said.
Not all his time will be spent covering destruction caused by fires, however.
“I recently attended the Bob Seger concert in Bangor. We were at the concert because of complaints from a previous event that exit/egress pathways were not being maintained; we also conducted nightclub inspections that evening to ensure capacities were not exceeded and to ensure life/safety codes were being complied with. The inspectors do not attend all concerts, but we do cover any show that has pyrotechnics, so there is a possibility that I will be part of other events,” said Cyr.
Cyr said he enjoyed his time working for the city of Presque Isle and the staff at the fire department and will miss the closeness that comes with working with the same people on a daily basis.
“Working 24-hour shifts (one-third of the year) for the past 14-plus years, your crew becomes like family and the decision to leave that wasn’t an easy one. The good part about it is I will still be able to work alongside many of the people I have worked with for years to achieve many of the same goals. I am excited and look forward to being a part of a pro-active and progressive department within state government,” said Cyr.
