By Amanda Estes
Staff Writer
After a 35-year tenure as a full-time fire chief, Cape Elizabeth Fire Chief Philip McGouldrick announced he plans to retire on Jan. 21.
“You know how they say you know when it’s the right time – well it’s the right time,” McGouldrick said last Thursday, a day after his Nov. 28 announcement. “I’m 65 and I had a good run with it and I want to keep it that way.”
As chief, McGouldrick is the only full-time employee in Cape Elizabeth’s all volunteer fire, rescue and water extrication team (WET) companies. During his tenure, McGouldrick oversaw the department’s transition from strictly volunteer to a company of paid on-call firefighters and rescue workers, who respond to calls from their home and are paid for their time on the job.
McGouldrick served as Cape Elizabeth’s fire chief since 1992 and previously had served as South Portland’s fire chief from 1972 to 1992. He began his career as a volunteer firefighter for South Portland in 1957 and became a full-time firefighter in 1963.
Since the start of his blaze-battling career, McGouldrick has served as president of the Cumberland County Fire Chiefs, president of the Maine Association of Fire Chiefs, president of the New England Fire Chiefs and president of the International Association of Fire Chiefs. The first Maine Fire Chief of the Year award was presented to McGouldrick in 1992.
“I worked my way up through and apparently a few people were impressed with what I was doing,” McGouldrick said of his appointment to the International Association of Fire Chiefs’ executive office. “It was a fantastic opportunity for myself and my wife.”
As president, McGouldrick traveled the country, bringing recognition to the state of Maine. In 1993, McGouldrick traveled to California to visit with departments as they battled forest fires.
McGouldrick said he enjoyed his time as fire chief in South Portland, “an extremely diverse community,” but the job was more administrative than hands on.
“The thing that drew me to the job to begin with was fighting fire,” he said. “When the [Cape Elizabeth] job became available, I thought I [could] kind of get back to the roots and the things I love to do.”
Both his father and grandfather were members of the Ferry Village call company in South Portland, but McGouldrick said his parents wanted him to be a schoolteacher. McGouldrick attended the Gorham State Teacher’s College, which is now the University of Southern Maine, and “did end up with a degree in teaching, but still became a fireman because that was the love of my life, obviously,” he said.
Since 1969, McGouldrick has served as a Maine Fire Training and Education instructor, a department of Southern Maine Community College (SMCC), and has also served as an instructor at the college. McGouldrick was also a founding member of the “Learn Not to Burn Program,” a nation-wide fire safety education program for school children.
McGouldrick said he also enjoyed the opportunity to teach students in the high school feeder program when they come into the station. He said the students are curious about the work and are enthusiastic about doing odd jobs around the station.
“They come in and hang out and want to know everything about things that have happened in the past,” he said.
Veteran firefighter Gerry Murray said McGouldrick has “been a teacher since day one.”
 “He was our instructor back when he was an officer in the South Portland department.”
Murray, who has been a volunteer firefighter for 47 years and is currently serving as house captain, said the department trains extensively under McGouldrick’s watch.
“He’s always been someone to look up to and ask questions,” said Murray. “I’m going to and the town is going to miss the chief immensely.”
Town Manager Michael McGovern said McGouldrick’s “leadership has resulted in the town keeping a volunteer department for longer than other comparable communities.”
“If you look at every other department in the area, they have had to bring on quite a few people to help, particularly during the day,” McGovern said.
McGouldrick said a recruitment and retention committee is always looking toward the future, when Cape Elizabeth will likely have to hire more full-time people. The committee has recommended, “to start out with one full-time person that works days and is kind of a paramedic firefighter who can do administrative work and help out the chief,” McGouldrick said.
Attracting and retaining volunteers is a national issue, McGouldrick said.
“It’s recognized even on a national level that volunteers are a very integral part of our service and the longer we can hold on to them, the better off we’re going to be from an economical standpoint,” he said.
In budget hearings with the town council, McGouldrick has offered health insurance and retirement options as incentives for recruiting volunteers.
McGovern said he plans to meet with the department’s volunteer leadership as he moves forward with the appointment of a new chief.
McGouldrick said his future holds some relaxation, but his is not ready to leave municipal fire service behind completely. After a three-month vacation in Florida with his wife, McGouldrick said he is planning to start an insurance consulting service for municipal fire departments with his brother, who is retiring from the Insurance Service Organization. McGouldrick said he will also assist departments with pump testing and will continue to teach for the Maine Fire Training and Education program.
“I have very mixed emotions about retiring, but my wife and I want to do some things that we haven’t had time to do,” he said. “I stuck with it because I love it. It’s not a job for me.”