Chief Scott Susi is settling into his new role in town

BY NATALIE SEARLES, STAFF WRITER

The Sanford Fire Department has appointed Scott Susi as its new Fire Chief. Susi’s first day was April 27 after working two decades as chief of Caribou Fire.

Before his 20 years at Caribou Fire and Ambulance, Susi was a field medic in the Army National Guard. He also found himself in the operating room for 14 years.

It wasn’t until he decided to go back to school to become a surgical PA and got a job in the Emergency Medical Services field that he was introduced to fire-based EMS.

 “I got in and started doing my ride time, [then] found out about fire-based EMS,” said Susi. “That [was] it, I was out of the hospital and into the fire world.”

Susi first started as a volunteer in 2003 but two years later went full-time. In 2012 he became chief at Caribou. He has earned several awards in his career including The American Legion’s Firefighter of the Year and Maine Chiefs Association Fire Chief of the Year. 

Working at a big department was always something Susi wanted to do and is excited for the challenge.

As the new chief, his short-term goals are to learn more about the department and adjust to the way it runs. A long-term goal would be getting back into the community and “Maintaining the level of care that [firefighters] bring the citizens of Sanford.”

As the new face of the department, Susi plans to earn the trust of the community by putting the department out there. He doesn’t want Sanford to only see his face, but also the 50 faces that work there. He would do this with community functions and more.

Susi says Sanford is his last stop, the place where he’ll work “until the end of [his] career.”

The town of Sanford will look forward to working with Chief Susi and welcomes him to the community.