Topsham seeks firefighter-paramedic to bolster fire and EMS coverage

Topsham Fire & Rescue was looking for a full-time firefighter/paramedic or advanced EMT as the department kept pace with more than 2,100 calls of service a year across a town of about 9,000 residents and 36 square miles. The opening carried a 42-hour-a-week schedule, benefits and a rotating 24-hours-on, 72-hours-off shift pattern, with starting pay listed at $29.90 an hour for a paramedic and $27.20 an hour for an advanced EMT.

The job description, posted March 13, 2026 and set to close April 17, 2026, went beyond emergency calls. It called for fire suppression, emergency medical treatment, records and reporting, and vehicle and equipment maintenance, underscoring how one hire has to serve both the fire side and the ambulance side of local response.

Chief Glenn Gorden’s department says it has 10 full-time personnel and 30 per diem firefighters, and that staff members average more than 2,100 calls of service a year. A separate 2025 call-volume page said the department responded to over 2,100 calls, a workload that leaves little margin in a small full-time roster.

Topsham has also used firefighter-paramedics in prevention work as well as emergency response. Elizabeth Reeves has worked at Topsham Fire & Rescue since 2015 and helped launch the town’s community paramedicine program, showing how the department relies on cross-trained staff to stretch coverage in a community along the Androscoggin River near Merrymeeting Bay. The hiring push fits a wider Maine EMS conversation as the Blue Ribbon Commission on EMS examined workforce development, training, compensation, retention, costs, reimbursement, organization and local support, with Maine EMS posting the commission’s final report in January 2023 and annual data reports again in 2025 and 2026.