SKOWHEGAN — After more than a century at the town’s Island Avenue fire station, the department officially moved Wednesday to its new home at the town’s public safety building. The last firefighters to work from the old fire station, at 16 Island Ave. on the island downtown, finished their shift Wednesday morning. 

Skowhegan Deputy Fire Chief Ryan Johnston, left, is shown with Captain Daryl Wyman, right and other firefighters returning from a call while working the final shift Wednesday at the historic firehouse at 16 Island Ave. in Skowhegan. The fire department moved the trucks to the town’s new $8 million public safety building at the corner of East Madison Road and Dunlop Lane later that morning. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

The move came with little fanfare, but it marks the end of an era in Skowhegan history, said Skowhegan fire Chief Ronnie Rodriguez.

“The fire service is one of those professions that is steeped in a lot of traditions and history,” said Rodriguez, who was hired as chief in December 2022. “Even though I am new, I have a tremendous amount of respect and admiration for those that have come before and paved the path to get us to where we are today.”

Long on the island, the department is now on the hill. Along with the Police Department, it is now based out of Skowhegan’s recently completed public safety building on East Madison Road.

There have not yet been any formal conversations among town officials about what will be done with the Island Avenue fire station. Though some ideas floated informally by town residents and officials — which include establishing a museum, selling the building to a developer or using it as an auxiliary fire station — could preserve some of its history.

An Amish buggy passes the 1904 Skowhegan firehouse Wednesday after the final shift at the historic firehouse at 16 Island Ave. in Skowhegan. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

The Island Avenue fire station was built in 1904, but fire services in Skowhegan predate the Civil War. Town fire services were first organized in 1844 and then moved to the island in 1860, according to historical information that Rodriguez presented to the Board of Selectmen on Tuesday.

The building was designed in the Romanesque Revival style by noted Lewiston architect William R. Miller, according to a nomination for the National Register of Historic Places written by the Maine Historic Preservation Commission in 1983.

The nomination, which was accepted that year, calls the station “the finest building of its type.”

Skowhegan firefighters return from a call while working the final shift at the historic firehouse at 16 Island Ave. in Skowhegan on Wednesday. The fire trucks were moved later that morning to the town’s new $8 million public safety building at the corner of East Madison Road and Dunlop Lane. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

“Although a utilitarian structure, it presents to the eye an architectural presence which contributes markedly to the built environment of Skowhegan,” the nomination form reads. “Of particular note is the decorative brickwork carried out with consummate skill by the masons who executed it.”

In many ways, the Fire Department had outgrown the aging fire station, Rodriguez said. The current firetrucks fit through the bay doors with just inches to spare, and the fire bay is supported by dozens of support beams in the basement to hold the weight of the fire trucks.

The new public safety building is much larger and offers individual sleeping quarters, a full kitchen, and a gym space.

“We’re going to put our stamp on the new building,” Rodriguez said.

The construction of the new station also mirrors local history, Rodriguez said.

Skowhegan firefighter Quinn Callahan, slips past fire trucks Wednesday as he works around the 1904 firehouse during the final shift at 16 Island Ave. The fire department moved their trucks to the town’s new $8 million public safety building at the corner of East Madison Road and Dunlop Lane. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

Citing a newspaper editorial from the time, Rodriguez joked that back when Skowhegan fire officials sought to build a structure on the island in the 1800s, residents were concerned it would be too costly — a concern shared by some about the new $8 million plus public safety building.

The cost then was $1,500.

“I don’t say that lightly knowing the burden on the citizens of Skowhegan,” Rodriguez said, “but (there is) the tradition of the more things change, the more they really stay the same.”

Perhaps confirming Rodriguez’s statement, an Amish horse and buggy trotted by the station just before the Fire Department departed for its new home Wednesday.

The last shift of firefighters assigned to Island Avenue station officially signed off at 7 a.m., but they were out assisting with a trash fire in Norridgewock. That was the last call firefighters responded to out of the old fire station, Deputy Fire Chief Ryan Johnston said.

Once they were back, the department prepared to leave. It was mostly a symbolic sendoff: The firefighters would need to come back later to get their vehicles and personal belongings left at the station.

Skowhegan firefighter Tyler Curtis uses bolt cutters Wednesday to free Captain Daryl Wyman from a pole he was chained to after B-shift firefighters worked the final shift at the historic firehouse at 16 Island Ave. in Skowhegan. The fire department moved their trucks to the town’s new $8 million public safety building at the corner of East Madison Road and Dunlop Lane later that morning. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

As the firefighters gathered to discuss their plans, Captain Daryl Wyman jokingly chained himself to a pole.

Skowhegan fire fighter Tyler Curtis washes off a fire truck Wednesday as he works around the firehouse during the final shift at the 1904 Skowhegan Firehouse at 16 Island Ave. in Skowhegan. Skowhegan Federated Church is shown behind Curtis. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

“I’m not leaving!” Wyman said.

But he was soon unchained.

And at 8:17 a.m., with a police escort, Skowhegan’s four fire trucks headed north to their new home, “the hill.”

Standing in the now empty apparatus bay, Rodriguez looked out as traffic passed by on Island Avenue and reflected on the station’s history.

“You just think of what has gone past this building for 180 years,” he said. “It’s bittersweet.”

Rodriguez then made one last radio call from the station.

“Skowhegan fire has now left the island. Thank you.”

The dispatcher responded: “10-4, chief.”

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