LOSAP Board of Trustees’ Bio’s
Duane Bickford – Designated Representative of the Maine Fire Chief’s Association
Duane M. Bickford, Fire Chief / EMA Director and Addressing Officer for the Towns of Fairfield and Benton. He is a Maine Fire Chief Officer I and Certified EMA Director, serving as a Career Firefighter/EMT for 28 years the last 18 years as Chief of the Department. The Fairfield Benton Emergency Services department is combination department with six career firefighter/EMTS and 25 call personnel. The department serves 9,200 residents and responds to 1,400 E-911 calls per year plus approximately 400 non-emergency calls for service. Duane serves as a member of the Maine Fire Chiefs Association Executive Board as immediate past president, is a past president of the Somerset County Fire Chiefs Association, and was appointed by Governor Baldacci to serve on the Somerset County Charter Commission. He lives in the Town of Fairfield with his wife Lynn, they have one adult daughter.
Jeff Brackett – Maine State Federation of Firefighters Representative
Jeff Brackett was a founding member of the LOSAP Board. He is an active member of the New Sharon Fire and Rescue Department, where he has been a firefighter and first responder since 1973 and served as chief of the department from 2002 until 2011. He is a retired rural mail carrier for the US Postal Service, where he delivered mail out of the Farmington Post Office for over 31 years, retiring in 2011. He has served as the Franklin County Vice President for the Maine State Federation of Firefighters since 1995. He and his wife, Janet, live in New Sharon and are the parents of three adult children and the grandparents of two.
Frederick Brewer, CPA – Governors Appointee
Fred Brewer was a founding member of the LOSAP Board and the Governor's appointee. Fred is the fourth-generation in his family to be a member of the Massasoit Engine Company/Damariscotta Fire Department where he has served since 1995. He has served as the departments training officer and since 1999, has led the department’s fire prevention program and fundraising activities. Fred organized county-wide trainings and is a member of the Lincoln County Fire Chiefs Association. Fred graduated from Bentley University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting. He has been a CPA since 2002 and works for his family’s firm in Bath, Maine. The firm performs audits for retirement plans and municipalities in the State of Maine, as well as Tax preparation and consulting for clients. Fred is the Treasurer for the Twin Villages Alliance, past Treasurer for the Damariscotta Newcastle Rotary Foundation, volunteer for the Damariscotta Pumpkinfest, and Trustee for the Genada Foundation. Fred, his wife Jessika and their four young children live in Damariscotta.
Stephan Bunker – Maine Municipal Association Representative
Stephan Bunker is a longtime selectman from Farmington and past president of the Maine Municipal Association. He is retired from the Maine E911 bureau where he managed dispatcher training & certification. He is now a consultant, delivering advanced dispatcher training courses throughout the US and Canada and expert witness testimony in 911 litigation. In 2018, he celebrated his 40th year as a Farmington firefighter and has been a State fire instructor for 30+ years with the Maine Fire Service Institute. He also serves as the Governors Appointee on the Maine Fire Service Protection Services Commission and a Life Member of the Maine Fire Chiefs Association. He is a graduate of Southern Maine Community College, University of Southern Maine, and the University of Maine-Orono.
William Gillespie – Board Chair and Maine Fire Chief’s Association Representative
William (Bill) Gillespie is a founding member of the LOSAP Board and currently serves as the Chair. Bill started in the fire service in 1988, as a member of the Peaks Island Department, where he served for 10 years. He moved to Union in 1998 and joined the local Fire department. In 2003, he received a promotion to the rank of Captain. In 2005, Bill moved to Liberty and joined the Liberty Fire Department where he moved through the ranks and was eventually promoted to Chief of the Department in 2009. Bill still currently holds that position. Bill also serves on several committees, such as; the President of the Waldo County Fire Chiefs, the Training Coordinator for the Waldo County Firefighters Association and was a past Vice President of that Association as well. Bill serves on the Waldo County Communication Board, Maine Fire Service Institute Board and the E911 Board. Bill was also the 2015 Maine State Federation of Firefighter Convention Chairmen, bringing the convention to Waldo County for the first time. Bill is a past Vice President for Waldo County on the Maine Fire Chief’s Board and is currently the Sargent of Arms on the Executive Board. Bill was named the 2019 Fire Chief of the Year by the Maine Fire Chiefs Association. Bill’s wife Lisa is an active member of the Fire Department as well as two of his five grown children. Bill is also the proud grandfather of four amazing grandkids.
William Hussey - Maine State Federation of Firefighters Representative
William (Bill) Hussey was a founding member of the LOSAP Board. He is Fire Chief/EMA Director for the Town of Peru for the last 31 years and has been a firefighter for over 50 years. Bill is a second-generation firefighter. Bill was Fire Chief of the year in 2007 and served as Maine Fire Chiefs Association President in 2004. Bill is a graduate of Husson College, with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management. He worked at Mack Trucks for 6 years, then the Banking Field for 12 years and lastly retiring in 2004 after 25 years at the Rumford Paper Mill as the Emergency Response Team Chief and the Mill Safety Advocate. Bill serves as the Volunteer Firefighter Representative to the Maine State Emergency Response Commission and is a member of the Oxford County L.E.P.C. and Oxford County IMAT Team. Bill and wife Kathy live on Worthley Pond, Peru and have four adult children and four precious granddaughters.
Marshall King - Maine State Federation of Firefighters Representative
Marshall King began his time in the fire service in 1965 in Orono fire as a Junior Firefighter. In 1968, he was filling in for fulltime driver/operators. In 1970 he graduated from Orono High School and enlisted in the Air Force where he was assigned to the 341st Red Horse Engineer Squadron, Malmstrom Air Force base Great Falls Montana, with Crash/Rescue division. After leaving the Air Force, he was hired back in Orono as a fulltime driver/operator. From 1984 to 1986, he was a firefighter at the King Facial Specialist Hospital, Riyadh Saudi Arabia. After returning back to Maine, he was hired at Maine Fire Training and Education where he was there for 18 years. After leaving Maine Fire Training & Education, he joined the Fairfield Fire Department. In 1992, he joined the Waterville Fire Department, rising to the rank of Lieutenant. After 22 years of service to Waterville, he returned to Fairfield Fire where he is currently a spare driver/dispatcher. Marshall was also with Central Maine Fire Attack School for over 35 years with numerous years as President. Someday, he may retire but his 53 years of service has been a great adventure.