Caribou Professional Firefighters IAFF Local 5191

05/31/2026

05/23/2026

Today, a BBQ was held at CFAD headquarters, organized, hosted and funded by the families of our Full-Time Members.

With three full-time openings and staff currently on medical leave, our department has faced significant staffing challenges. Many of our full-time members have been working 80+ hour weeks and shifts exceeding 48 consecutive hours to ensure minimum staffing levels are maintained for the community, at the sacrifice of family time.

We are incredibly grateful for the understanding, support, and initiative shown by our families in helping boost morale and bring a meaningful, family-centered close to EMS Week.

As always, our members and their families remain committed to serving the community and answering the call.

05/22/2026

05/22/2026

During EMS Week on May 21, 2026, Chief Brian Lajoie presented the Maine EMS Phoenix Award to members of the Caribou Fire & Ambulance Department for their successful resuscitation of a patient in cardiac arrest on July 31, 2025.

The Phoenix Award is presented annually by Maine EMS to EMS providers who utilize their skılls and training during a cardiac arrest incident resulting in a patient who was clinically deceased being successfully revived and able to return to a neurologically intact and normal quality of life.

The Caribou Fire & Ambulance Department is honored to receive this recognition and proud of the efforts of the personnel involved in this life-saving event.
Pictured left to right: Firefighter/EMT Matt Russell, Captain/Paramedic Scott Dow, Firefighter/Paramedic Mike DiVito, Firefighter/Paramedic Ryan Hall, and Chief Brian Lajoie, who presented the awards.

05/22/2026

We are devastated to learn of the passing of retired Caribou Police Officer Doug Bell.

For 37 years, Officer Bell proudly served the citizens of Caribou through his service with the Caribou Police Department. He was known not only for his professionalism and deep commitment to our community, but also for the relationships he built with those he served alongside and those he served.

On behalf of the Caribou Fire and Ambulance Department, we extend our thoughts, prayers, and deepest condolences to Officer Bell’s family, friends, and our brothers and sisters at the Caribou Police Department.

Officer Bell, we thank you for your service and promise that your legacy will not be forgotten.

“Some lives are measured in years. Others are measured in the people they helped.”

05/17/2026

Today marks the beginning of EMS Week 2026.

During this week, we recognize and celebrate our career and paid-call EMS providers for the care, compassion, and professionalism they bring to our communities each and every day. We would also like to extend our appreciation to our neighboring EMS and fire departments for the continued support and teamwork that help us accomplish our mission.

EMS has evolved tremendously since its founding, and today the ambulance is often viewed as an emergency room on wheels. As medicine and prehospital care continue to advance, so do the responsibilities placed upon our providers — all with one shared goal: improving outcomes, together.

Thank you to all EMS professionals for your dedication, sacrifice, and commitment to serving others.

05/16/2026

05/15/2026

Caribou L5191 sends our thoughts to the many injured first responders and all those affected by today’s explosion in Searsmont.

05/14/2026

05/12/2026

Members of Local 5191 send our condolences to the Maine Warden Service and friends and family of Maine Game Warden Pilot, Joshua Tibbetts.

Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife is heartbroken to share that Game Warden Pilot Joshua Tibbetts died this morning in a plane crash in Avon, ME.

Game Warden Pilot Tibbetts served the people of Maine as a Maine Game Warden for 18 years, including the last three years as a pilot for Maine Warden Service. In that role, his specialized aviation work supported search and rescue, law enforcement, fisheries and wildlife conservation, and public safety across the state.

This is an incredibly difficult loss for his family, friends, colleagues, and the entire Maine Warden Service. We ask the public to keep his loved ones, his fellow Game Wardens, and all those affected by this tragedy in their thoughts in the days ahead.

The investigation into the crash is ongoing. The Department will cooperate fully with the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board.

We are grateful for the emergency personnel who responded to the scene and for the support already being shown to the Maine Warden Service family.