Over 60 junior firefighters participated in the third annual Maine Junior Firefighter Muster in Scarborough on Sunday. Contributed / Ryan Shea

The Maine Junior Firefighter Muster, the third of which was held in Scarborough on Sunday, has already become an engine for departments in the state to recruit young firefighters.

On a drive to school in 2022, Capt. Daryen Granata talked with his son about what he was working on in training that week as part of the department’s Explorer Program for aspiring firefighters.

“He said, ‘I wonder what other places are doing for training,'” Granata, a Scarborough firefighter, harbor master and marine resource officer, told the Leader on Monday. “I dropped him off at school and my gears started turning.”

The idea was simple: round up all of the junior firefighter programs in the state for a friendly competition. After all, according to the Fire Department, the first recorded firefighter muster in the United States was held in Bath in 1849.

However, when it came to the competition itself, Granata had to get creative.

“These kids that are 14 to 18 years old, they’re really limited on what they can do based on the Maine Bureau of Labor standards,” Granata said. “They can’t hold an exterior attack line, they can’t be in a smoke-filled environment, they can’t be up on a ladder or be on an aerial device, they can’t run chainsaws and hydraulic tools.”

But they can still do a lot, Granata said, including putting on all of their equipment quickly and efficiently, exchanging bottles used in firefighters’ breathing apparatus, running hoses and hooking them up to fire hydrants and trucks.

One of the competitions at the Maine Junior Firefighter Muster was to run and hook up hoses to a fire hydrant. Contributed / Ryan Shea

Granata came up with five contests based on those skills and, through the Maine Fire Chiefs’ Association, he sent an invite to every fire department and vocational-technical school in the state. Around 50 junior firefighters turned out to the first muster in 2022, around 55 to the second and, on Sunday, the third annual Maine Junior Firefighter Muster drew over 60 competitors.

“I am extremely proud of Capt. Granata and his team for hosting another successful Junior Firefighter Muster event,” said Scarborough Fire Chief Rich Kindelan. “The young men and women who represented and competed with their departments or vocational programs were truly an inspiration to watch.”

The muster comes in an era where fire departments are having a tough time filling open positions.

“Coming from an organization that is searching for people to fill the ranks, anything like this that can expose and have a positive influence on the youth and (inspire) prospective careers for the future is an excellent investment,” said William St. Michel, executive director of the Maine Fire Chiefs’ Association.

It has already proven to be an effective recruiting tool. Andrew Doughty, then a student at Tri-County Tech in Dexter, took part in the first muster in 2022.

“My instructor told me about an email he had gotten about a muster they were doing in Scarborough,” Doughty said. “But he said the deadline (to enter) closed yesterday and I said ‘Dang it.’ Then I called Capt. Granata.”

Granata said he could “absolutely” still join. The day of the muster, Doughty said, “was when I decided where I wanted to be.”

Doughty relocated to Scarborough to take part in the department’s live-in program and is now a full-time firefighter at the Scarborough Fire Department.

“I went on and applied for the live-in program and then I was encouraged to apply for some openings,” he said. “I did and they offered me the job about six months ago.”

Simultaneously, Doughty is going to paramedic school before finishing out college at Southern Maine Community College, where he plans to get a degree in fire science and paramedicine.

“Without the muster, I don’t think I’d be in Scarborough right now,” he said. “Who comes to this and doesn’t want to work in Scarborough?”

Granata said he envisions musters being held at other Maine fire departments in the future but, in the event’s first three years, Scarborough has proved to be the perfect location.

“We have the infrastructure and we have the community backing it in Scarborough,” Granata said.

A junior firefighter rushes to put on their equipment during one of the competitions on Sunday. Contributed / Ryan Shea

Holding a competition is one thing, but providing for 60 teenagers, their families and spectators is another. Thankfully, Granata said, the community has always “stepped up to the plate.”

From local organizations and businesses like the Lions Club, Prouts Neck Association, Risbara Bros., Romeos Pizza and Bailey’s Ice Cream to well-known brands like Hannaford, Poland Spring, Sam’s Club and McDonald’s, there has always been plenty of food and beverages on hand, Granata said, without cost to the town or any of the programs that sent junior firefighters from around the state. Other items, like T-shirts for the competitors, have all been covered by sponsors, too.

“There were around 60 participants, there were another 50 volunteers and then there were a bunch of onlookers,” Granata said. “We fed (on Sunday) the better part of 300 people.”

Granata said he also hopes they can keep in touch with competitors to see where they wind up.

“We coined the phrase ‘the future of Maine fire service,’ because that’s what they really are,” he said. “Whether these kids go on and become career firefighters, become call company firefighters or per diem firefighters, or they go on to college and get involved with the fire department in that community … we’re trying to look at what the ripple effect is.”