As far back as Paul Ouellette can remember, he was a NASCAR fan and enamoured with firefighting. 

“As a kid, I would never miss an episode of the TV show Emergency, and my grandparents would take me to Oxford Plains Speedway every weekend they were racing, and we watched many races on TV.” 

Today, Ouellette is a fire inspector for the Lewiston Fire Department and a pit road firefighter for Oxford Plains Speedway and at Loudon, N.H., where the top racers in the world compete.

After graduating from Lewiston High School in 1987, Ouellette enrolled in the Fire Science program at Southern Maine Technical Center. During the two-year program, he worked to get certified by the state as a firefighter. 

Upon graduation, he immediately we went to work as a firefighter at the Brunswick Naval Air Station. “In addition to going off base to help Brunswick and Topsham fight their big fires, it was something else to be on the runway when an F-18 came in with no brakes or other problems. We often had to stretch a cable across the runway to stop it, just like on an aircraft carrier. Going into the cockpit of a P-3 Orion full of smoke was hairy, but watching an F-18 go off the runway and crash in the woods really got the adrenaline pumping.”

Never idle, Ouellette joined as a volunteer for the Danville station in Auburn. With the news of the base closure, he decided to take a job with AAA fire extinguishers. He worked there from 1992 to 1998, but on weekends and at night he would take classes. He applied to LFD, but was not accepted on his first try. He did not give up. The second time he applied, he was hired and soon after was sent to Maryland for a two-week course where he earned his official fire investigator certification. 

Even now, he continues to take classes, including a two-week course at the Police Academy to learn about crime scenes. He has helped Lewiston Police investigate several cases of arson. 

Fire is a dangerous, and Ouellette has had his share of close calls. With floors and ceilings collapsing above and below him, he credits fellow firefighters with always looking out for each other that has kept him safe. “It is a brotherhood like no other.” 

Several fires come to mind when asked which were the biggest. “The Libbey and Cowen Mill fires for the sheer magnitude, but the Hotel Holly fire and explosion has to be right up there. And then there is the Harley’s R Us fire on outer Main Street. With that one, we were dealing with injured firefighters, millions of dollars of inventory, and stolen motorcycles. The ATF came on board and we ended up having to interview members of the Hell’s Angles and other motorcycle gangs. That was scary.”