Sweden Volunteer Fire Dept.

To the Editor:

I am a resident of the town of Sweden and have been an active member on the fire department for five years. I went through the fire fighter one course and received my s.c.b.a to become an interior firefighter. I am completed in N.I.M.S compliance through homeland security and had just as many if not more certificates then my own fire chief.

I also was a active member on the Bridgton fire department and received a "rookie of the year" award from them in 2009. In the past year I spoke to chief Garland and explained to him I had to take some time off (in order to raise my five-year-old granddaughter). He was more than understanding and told me the door was always open to me when I came back to Bridgton.

I stayed on Sweden fire as long as I could but discovered I didn't have the time in the evening to respond to calls because for obvious reasons my granddaughter comes first. I gave a written leave of absence to them and shortly thereafter I received a certified letter from my fire chief Jim Willy thanking me for my time but stating I was no longer allowed on fire department property.

I was mortified by my fire department's response for my leave of absence. Then I reflected back on all the cold winter nights standing outside helping with trees down, accident scenes, freezing rain storms, small fires etc. and my years of fundraisers with dinners and getting bluegrass bands to perform at fundraisers to benefit my fire department. I was so insulted and didn't understand this reasoning on why they would do this to me. I was slightly overdue to take my B.L.S (Bureau of Labor Standards) but was planning on sitting through Bridgton's class and taking up a full Saturday afternoon. I was dedicated to my town and enjoyed helping people. Why didn't Sweden fire just slap a restraining order on me? Because that's how I felt. I have no understanding on why a fire department would do this to a active dedicated member (who only took a leave of absence) and feel it is time that the town members in Sweden can read this and process this. Maybe they will have a better understanding of the functioning of the fire department. Or is it that I am a qualified/certified female? Always going beyond my call of duty as a volunteer, I wonder was it all worth it? I would love to hear and understand the reasoning.

Thank you, Sweden Volunteer Fire Department.

Heather M. Hoover

Sweden