Kennebunk Fire Rescue Chief Justin Cooper, who began volunteering for the department in 1998, and who most recently served as deputy chief, began his new job, as chief on July 5. He worked 18 years at Biddeford Fire Department and has served as  deputy chief in Arundel since 2003. Tammy Wells photo

KENNEBUNK – Justin Cooper was 18 when he arrived in Maine, right out of high school. It didn’t take long for him to make his way to Washington Hose Company, one of Kennebunk’s four fire stations.

Cooper was there at the invitation of his stepfather Roger Ellenberger, who was a training officer, and later a lieutenant and captain at the fire company. He thought Cooper might like it.

He did like it, and he still does – in fact, he said, he loves firefighting and the emergency medical service.

And on July 5, the Kennebunk resident and longtime member of the department – since 1998 – became chief of Kennebunk Fire Rescue.

“I really feel I have come full circle,” Cooper told the select board June 14, as it confirmed Town Manager Mike Pardue’s nomination of Cooper. “This is the department where I started.”

That first encounter with firefighting back in 1998 kept Cooper and the others at Washington Hose Company and across Kennebunk very busy. There were many, many fires that summer, and as it turned out, Cooper recalled, not from natural causes.

He went off to the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and worked at a fire department nearby. He graduated in 2002 with a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology and exercise physiology.

He is also one of the first firefighters to sleep at Central Station at town hall and said he remembered waking up shivering one night when the heating system malfunctioned.

He remembers the days when there were volunteers, call firefighters, per diem personnel – and today, when the mix also includes full-time firefighters.

Cooper, 42,  likes to work. Prior to his new job as Kennebunk’s Fire Rescue Chief, he was deputy chief of the department, worked full-time as captain and shift commander at Biddeford Fire Department, and was deputy chief of Arundel Fire Rescue, all at the same time.

As he looks to the future, Cooper said he hopes to focus on readiness training, preparedness, physical fitness, mental well-being, resilience, and work-life balance for employees.

“By doing that, I strongly believe we can not only retain our members, but recruit others in an era where it’s very difficult to obtain and retain high performing public safety employees,” he told the select board.

At an interview at Central Station, Cooper said he hopes to foster camaraderie among full-time, volunteer and per-diem staff.

He noted Kennebunk Fire Rescue is an all-hazards department, as most are.

“There are a tremendous number of incident types and equipment our personnel are responsible to know how to proficiently operate,” he said. “In order to do so effectively we will be looking to incorporate full-time, per-diem, and volunteer staff into these training operations as well as enhancing already ongoing monthly tri-town training between Arundel, Kennebunk, and Kennebunkport. This will also facilitate teamwork and camaraderie, not only amongst all of our staff but by building personal relationships with responders from our adjacent communities.”

Pardue had high praise for Cooper. He said when former Fire Chief Jeff Rowe announced earlier this year that he planned to retire, a nationwide search was launched for a new fire rescue chief. There were applications from Arizona, Texas, Florida and up the eastern seaboard, said Pardue.

“(Cooper) went through an extensive vetting process, and it was no surprise to me that he rose to the top,” said Pardue at the select board meeting.

Board chair Blake Baldwin recalled spending more than two hours videotaping Cooper lead a team of EMS professionals working to free a man trapped beneath a very large rock.

“(The rock) was as big as a refrigerator,” Baldwin said at the June 14 meeting. “I was never more impressed and prouder of our Kennebunk Fire Rescue as I was that day. I was impressed with you Justin, watching you work under tremendous pressure.”

Cooper thanked Rowe, who was named chief in 2014. “I really appreciate all the years of his leadership and mentoring,” Cooper said.

As he wound down his remarks to the board, those in the audience rose to their feet in a standing ovation – among them were fellow firefighters from Biddeford, where he’d worked for 18 years. They came to see one of their own be named  chief.

He reflected on his life’s work.

“Who knew you could so something as a volunteer and then get paid to do it as a career,” Cooper said. “And how many have found a career they truly love? I have.”