Edgcomb fired as acting fire chief

The Dartmouth Fire District 2 Prudential Committee terminated the interim contract of Acting Fire Chief Greg Edgcomb at its meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 8.

Edgcomb’s last day as acting chief will be Friday, Nov. 11.

The move comes less than a week after Edgcomb informed the committee that he had retained legal counsel and submitted a letter of protest outlining multiple alleged open meeting law violations in relation to the hiring process.

Edgcomb has led the fire district in an interim capacity for nearly a year since former-chief Timothy Andre resigned in November 2021.

The decision to terminate Edgcomb’s contract was made by a 2-1 vote, with committee members Bob Bouley and Bill Coutu overruling the objections of member Ralph Medeiros.

“I think this is going to create more chaos in our department which will affect our community and the services that we provide our community,” Medeiros said. “I’m interested in continuity. We’ve had our differences but we’ve got to make it work.”

After the motion passed, Edgcomb asked Bouley if there was a reason he was being let go.

“Is there a reason? Yeah, we’re going to move forward and just, uh…,” Bouley responded, trailing off before Coutu interjected “move in a new direction.”

The two committee members declined to comment further on the matter and adjourned the meeting shortly after.

Bouley said that the committee would reach out to District 2 Deputy Chief Wayne Thomas to see if he could take over the acting chief duties while the committee continues its search for a permanent chief.

Before the motion was made to terminate his contract, Bouley asked Edgcomb if he had ever used his department vehicle to drive to Bourne Fire Department, where he is a lieutenant and paramedic.

Edgcomb responded that the only time he had ever driven to Bourne in the vehicle was when the Bourne department had hosted a training session that he had attended as a Dartmouth employee.

The committee also asked Edgcomb if he had circulated a copy of the job application of Kevin Harris, a captain at the Reedy Creek Fire Department in Florida, who is the only other candidate for the chief position.

Edgcomb responded that he did not even have access to the application in question, explaining that the candidate’s name had become public when it was disclosed by Bouley in a previous open meeting.

Edgcomb said that moving forward, he will seek to rejoin Fire District 2 as a captain, the rank he had held before being made the acting chief. He added that he would not withdraw his application for the permanent chief position.

On the subject of a possible lawsuit against the department, Edgcomb said only that he would need to speak with his lawyer about the day’s developments.

He did, however, signal his intention to submit a complaint to the state attorney general concerning alleged open meeting law violations outlined in his letter of protest.

The Fire District 2 Prudential Committee is scheduled to meet again on Monday, Nov. 14.