Four years ago, Edgecomb Fire Chief Roy Potter was wrestling with a problem. He looked at the average age of his all-volunteer team and knew he needed to get younger people involved, “to replace us,” he said.

So he created the department’s junior firefighter program for high school students. Chief since 2008, Potter retired after 20 years of service in the Coast Guard and joined the department to assist his brother John who was already serving with the department.

The program is demanding and not every student would welcome the hours of work. While those under 18 are prevented from certification and certain duties, Edgecomb’s junior firefighters train and respond with their 16 fellow department members.

The state labor department has rules for the help younger firefighters may provide. For example, they can set up the engine, help in efforts to supply water and support the other members of the team, as long as they aren’t exposed to hazardous areas.

Before they can respond to a call, juniors must complete basic firefighting training. Because they cannot be state-certified until they are 18, they cannot enter a burning building on a call. But accompanied by an instructor, they can participate in training called a live burn of a building. This exposes them to the heat and fire and helps them learn what to look for.

Potter said including the juniors on his team has been a positive experience for the students and their certified counterparts. “It gets them interested in it. For us, the juniors are members of our fire department.”

Four are also members of the family. Potter’s daughter Leah and firefighter John Potter’s stepdaughter Ryann Trask were junior firefighters before becoming certified. Leah is now away at school and Ryann is now a full member of EFD, an EMT with a local ambulance service, and is also in nursing school.

The chief’s daughter, Natalie, and son, Ryan, are junior firefighters, as is Aidan Tracy, who is not a family member. They have regulation firefighting gear and must maintain a “C” average in school to stay in the program.

The juniors have pagers and respond right along with their older counterparts when an emergency call comes in, whether a traffic accident, medical emergency, or a fire.

“It’s nice that juniors can train with the firefighters so when they turn 18, they know what to do,” said Trask. Natalie said the juniors recently joined the other department members in learning how to use extrication tools to help free people trapped in vehicles.

Natalie, who attends Wiscasset Middle High School, recently took the National Emergency Responder Test after completing the EMR class. She has been a junior firefighter for the past two years. She said her older colleagues have been “very welcoming.” Asked what motivated her to join, she said she always wanted to help. “On someone’s worst day, you were there to help them out.” She plans a career in the military.

Chief Potter hopes the junior firefighter program and the number of other volunteers will continue to grow. “We are here for the community. And we’ll do what neighbors should do.”

The department will hold an open house from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 18. All members of the community are invited to stop by for hot dogs, popcorn, cookies and drinks and to see the station and the equipment and meet the firefighters.

If interested in joining the department, call 882-9618.