Mark McDougall sworn in tomorrow as fire chief
BY MARY LANCASTER
Tomorrow morning, interim Fire Chief Mark McDougall will be sworn in as Nantucket's new permanent fire chief. He was chosen by Town Administrator Libby Gibson because of his leadership experience and established island residency.

McDougall: "It's not the chief that makes the department. It's the people in the department that makes the difference."

McDougall, 44, signed his contract last Thursday and has a starting salary of $97,500. He will soon make a recommendation to Gibson on who should fill his former position as Deputy Fire Chief.

McDougall, born in Concord, Mass., moved with his family from Acton to the island when he was two years old. His father, who worked in the Marlboro sheriff's office, died when he was only four. When his mother died, McDougall was just 11 and went to Lincoln to live with a relative. During high school he had part-time jobs in construction, and after graduation he decided to return to Nantucket and join the building trade. At 21, he founded his own masonry business.

When he was 29, McDougall signed up with the fire department as a full-time firefighter after being an on-call volunteer for a couple of years. He had already earned certification as an emergency medical technician, but began getting further instruction in handling hazardous materials, specialized medical care, fire fighting capabilities, how to remove people trapped in vehicles, dive training and officer's training.

McDougall is single with no children, but one of his two brothers is an islander, as are several cousins and nephews. On Aug. 13, 2001 he was made a captain in the local department, and on Nov. 1, 2004 was promoted to Deputy Chief, a position McDougall held until former Fire Chief Everett Pierce resigned in July. From then until now he was interim chief. Pierce, who served as chief for about two and a half years, stepped down after being charged with driving under the influence of alcohol. He was not prosecuted.

Though McDougall said this promotion was not expected, he is pleased to be offered the opportunity to lead the island's dedicated fire crew.

"I'm happy about it, and that Libby decided to fill this position with someone from on island and in the department," he said. "It's going to be a lot of work and there is absolutely no way I could do this without a lot of good people under me. It's not the chief that makes the department. It's the people in the department that makes the difference."

McDougall said that in his opinion, the department's greatest challenge is to ensure it has the equipment, manpower and ability to cope with fires that could result from Nantucket's increasing development, in some cases involving large structures.

"To us, it's a little city with the types of calls we go to, the number of them and all the inspections we go to," he said. "I'm not going to perform any miracles, but I'm going to work as hard as I can and keep on the right path."

Otherwise, McDougall intends to continue programs already underway, such as hoping to switch the whole island over to a wireless fire alarm system, using radio boxes that ring directly into the station. Fire alarm officer Ed Maxwell has been working on this for the last few years, with installation in process or completed at the 'Sconset fire station and wastewater plant, the Surfside wastewater plant, the Wauwinet Hotel, NISDA, the Steamship terminal, Madaket fire station, the landfill recycling facility, Surfside youth hostel and shortly, Sherburne Commons. The sensitive, low maintenance, early notification system is being promoted to builders of new developments and will be available to individuals, who can include panic buttons for emergency needs and carbon monoxide detectors.

McDougall will also continue the eight-person hazardous materials response team initiated by Pierce and working with the schools to offer fire safety education in the home and academic environments.

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