Calais Fire/EMS

About the Calais Fire/EMS

Calais Fire/EMS

Calais Fire-EMS is a combination career and paid call department. We provide first response to our small city and have mutual aid with 9 surrounding communities including St. Stephen, New Brunswick located immediately across the international border created by the St. Croix River. We are 182 miles NE of Portland Maine and 275 miles NE of Boston, Massachusetts.

Our response area is 40.1 square miles within the City. We also cover 81.69 miles within our automatic aid and mutual aid areas of response.
There are 22 trained firefighters – 15 are Firefighters I & II. Our department is a combination department of full-time and paid-call firefighters. At only 3079 residents which doubles in size for the summer, Calais is the largest city and the most important retail center in Washington County. We are classified as a rural community by AFG community classifications.

Our mutual aid partners are predominantly rural and very spread out. Response times can be long and weather conditions extreme during the winter. There are four international border crossings (three for auto and freight, one for rail) with New Brunswick, Canada and there are several industrial operations located on both sides of the international border including a large pulp processor and tissue manufacturer in Baileyville, and a flake board manufacturer in St. Stephen, New Brunswick. St. Stephen New Brunswick, Canada is a very intricate part of our emergency operations plan. Their community has a population of approximately 5000 people that we help protect.

Every member has passed an E.V.O.C has the Appropriate Driver’s license (Class B Exempt) to drive a Fire Apparatus and has been through an approved VFIS course. If awarded all members who operate the new apparatus would meet NFPA 1002 standards. Our dept. mandates the use of seatbelts by all riders of our apparatus and we have SOPs and SOGs mandating adherence to local traffic laws.
We utilize the following apparatus from one station:

• 1985 Ladder 300 GPM/1,250 gals. 4 seats, 4 SCBA, 40,199 miles
• 2006 Engine 1,000 GPM/1,000 gals. 4 seats, 4 SCBA, 28,299 miles
• 1990 Engine 1,000 GPM/1,250 gals. 3 seats, 4 SCBA, 25,755 miles
• 1998Engine 1,000 GPM/1,000 gals. 2 seats, 4 SCBA, 23,915 miles
• 1995 Rescue, 3 seats 4 SCBA 20,908 miles
• 2014 Type 3 ambulance with seating for 2 and 125,832 miles
• 2015 Type 3 ambulance with seating for 2 and 158,281 miles
• 2015 Type 3 ambulance with seating for 2 and 191,279 miles
• 2015 Type 3 ambulance with seating for 2 and 96,543 miles
• 1989 17-foot boat with motor.
• 2022 UTV side by side with a skid unit with 80 Gallons of water
• 2004 ATV 4x4 with 30 gallons of water and a small pump.

2008 Forestry, 250 Gallons of water and pump 3 seats 17,774 Miles.


In 2023, the department responded to1,524 emergency incidents. The full breakdown is 1,054 EMS calls, 470 fire calls, 57 service calls, and 18 MVAs, 14 were structure fires.

We provided mutual and automatic aid 21 times and received automatic and mutual aid assistance 19 times.

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• We protect a large quantity of Critical Infrastructure in our response areas; please see this list in Department Characteristics Part 1:
• 153 Buildings that are over three stories or more in our area of response.
• LP Gas pipeline and pumping station in the town where the pipeline comes from Nova Scotia Canada and is pumped to Texas.
• Mill complex that houses 300,000 gallons of Chlorine Dioxide, 90,000 gallons of propane, and 30, 000 gallons of Methanol.

Mission Statement

The Mission of Calais Fire EMS is to provide the City Of Calais with superior Customer Service and integrated emergency response to any situation that threatens the life, safety and well being of people and property.

About Us:

Nestled right on the Canadian border and the beautiful St. Croix River, the City of Calais, Maine, is located in eastern Washington County situated on the Canadian border and the beautiful St. Croix River.

Calais shares three international border crossings and a longstanding history with St. Stephen, New Brunswick, Canada.

Calais has historically been a city of commerce and is recognized as the primary shopping center of eastern Washington County and Charlotte County, New Brunswick. Currently retail, service, and construction businesses are the primary components of the Calais economy.

Calais is home to 3,123 residents and services a regional population of 15,000. Calais has worked to bolster its economy by revitalization of its downtown and development of an industrial park complete with sewer, water, three-phase power and transportation facilities. Calais is designated as a HUB zone for economic development. Calais has a remarkable endowment of historic buildings and natural beauty. The quality of life is further enhanced by the availability of an array of community facilities including a regional hospital, Washington County Community College (formerly WCTC), numerous parks and recreational facilities.