By Amanda Estes

Staff Writer

After a 35-year tenure as a full-time fire chief, Cape Elizabeth Fire
Chief Philip McGouldrick announced he plans to retire on Jan. 21.

“You know how they say you know when it’s the right time – well it’s
the right time,” McGouldrick said last Thursday, a day after his Nov.
28 announcement. “I’m 65 and I had a good run with it and I want to
keep it that way.”

As chief, McGouldrick is the only full-time employee in Cape
Elizabeth’s all volunteer fire, rescue and water extrication team (WET)
companies. During his tenure, McGouldrick oversaw the department’s
transition from strictly volunteer to a company of paid on-call
firefighters and rescue workers, who respond to calls from their home
and are paid for their time on the job.

McGouldrick served as Cape Elizabeth’s fire chief since 1992 and
previously had served as South Portland’s fire chief from 1972 to 1992.
He began his career as a volunteer firefighter for South Portland in
1957 and became a full-time firefighter in 1963.

Since the start of his blaze-battling career, McGouldrick has served as
president of the Cumberland County Fire Chiefs, president of the Maine
Association of Fire Chiefs, president of the New England Fire Chiefs
and president of the International Association of Fire Chiefs. The
first Maine Fire Chief of the Year award was presented to McGouldrick
in 1992.

“I worked my way up through and apparently a few people were impressed
with what I was doing,” McGouldrick said of his appointment to the
International Association of Fire Chiefs’ executive office. “It was a
fantastic opportunity for myself and my wife.”

As president, McGouldrick traveled the country, bringing recognition to
the state of Maine. In 1993, McGouldrick traveled to California to
visit with departments as they battled forest fires.

McGouldrick said he enjoyed his time as fire chief in South Portland,
“an extremely diverse community,” but the job was more administrative
than hands on.

“The thing that drew me to the job to begin with was fighting fire,” he
said. “When the [Cape Elizabeth] job became available, I thought I
[could] kind of get back to the roots and the things I love to do.”

Both his father and grandfather were members of the Ferry Village call
company in South Portland, but McGouldrick said his parents wanted him
to be a schoolteacher. McGouldrick attended the Gorham State Teacher’s
College, which is now the University of Southern Maine, and “did end up
with a degree in teaching, but still became a fireman because that was
the love of my life, obviously,” he said.

Since 1969, McGouldrick has served as a Maine Fire Training and
Education instructor, a department of Southern Maine Community College
(SMCC), and has also served as an instructor at the college.
McGouldrick was also a founding member of the “Learn Not to Burn
Program,” a nation-wide fire safety education program for school
children.

McGouldrick said he also enjoyed the opportunity to teach students in
the high school feeder program when they come into the station. He said
the students are curious about the work and are enthusiastic about
doing odd jobs around the station.

“They come in and hang out and want to know everything about things that have happened in the past,” he said.

Veteran firefighter Gerry Murray said McGouldrick has “been a teacher since day one.”

 “He was our instructor back when he was an officer in the South Portland department.”

Murray, who has been a volunteer firefighter for 47 years and is
currently serving as house captain, said the department trains
extensively under McGouldrick’s watch.

“He’s always been someone to look up to and ask questions,” said
Murray. “I’m going to and the town is going to miss the chief
immensely.”

Town Manager Michael McGovern said McGouldrick’s “leadership has
resulted in the town keeping a volunteer department for longer than
other comparable communities.”

“If you look at every other department in the area, they have had to
bring on quite a few people to help, particularly during the day,”
McGovern said.

McGouldrick said a recruitment and retention committee is always
looking toward the future, when Cape Elizabeth will likely have to hire
more full-time people. The committee has recommended, “to start out
with one full-time person that works days and is kind of a paramedic
firefighter who can do administrative work and help out the chief,”
McGouldrick said.

Attracting and retaining volunteers is a national issue, McGouldrick said.

“It’s recognized even on a national level that volunteers are a very
integral part of our service and the longer we can hold on to them, the
better off we’re going to be from an economical standpoint,” he said.

In budget hearings with the town council, McGouldrick has offered
health insurance and retirement options as incentives for recruiting
volunteers.

McGovern said he plans to meet with the department’s volunteer
leadership as he moves forward with the appointment of a new chief.

McGouldrick said his future holds some relaxation, but his is not ready
to leave municipal fire service behind completely. After a three-month
vacation in Florida with his wife, McGouldrick said he is planning to
start an insurance consulting service for municipal fire departments
with his brother, who is retiring from the Insurance Service
Organization. McGouldrick said he will also assist departments with
pump testing and will continue to teach for the Maine Fire Training and
Education program.

“I have very mixed emotions about retiring, but my wife and I want to
do some things that we haven’t had time to do,” he said. “I stuck with
it because I love it. It’s not a job for me.”