LEWISTON — The Lewiston Fire Department has promoted four members and hired two new firefighters, bringing the force to its full complement.

“We are currently fully staffed with 70 firefighters,” Chief Mark Caron said Thursday. “As retirements happen we try to fill them as quickly as possible. We have been fortunate to receive qualified applications for the vacancies we have had recently but we have experienced times when we had more vacancies than applicants in the past few years.”

Among those who have been promoted include William Wallace Jr. to captain on C shift. Wallace spent just over 10 years as lieutenant of Engine 7A shift responding from Central Station. He is a Maine State fire instructor specializing in fire pumps and water supply, a certified fire officer II, firefighter II, and fire instructor II. Wallace is also a licensed EMT and hazardous materials technician.

Eric Watson has been promoted to lieutenant. He began his career as a volunteer firefighter in Sabattus and Lisbon at age 18 and joined Lewiston Fire in 2011. Watson is a Southern Maine Community College graduate with an associate degree in fire science.

TOP ROW, FROM LEFT: Lt. Robert Gayton, Lt. Cory Higgins, Capt. William Wallace. BOTTOM ROW, FROM LEFT: Lt. Eric Watson, Firefighter Brady Downing, Firefighter Hannah Maurais. Submitted photos

Watson has worked with contractors and the city’s code enforcement office to obtain dozens of buildings to train in before being demolished, enabling him to teach roof ventilation and forcible entry specialty training. He also works for the Maine Fire Service Institute and is on-call with the Maine Forest Service, most recently deploying to California, Colorado, West Virginia and Washington.

Robert Gayton has been promoted to lieutenant on Engine 3-A Platoon. He began his fire service career in 2004 with Sabattus. He has completed his bachelor’s degree in American history from the University of Maine Farmington, as well as his associate degree in fire science from Southern Maine Community College, where he graduated top in the program.

Gayton began his career with Lewiston in 2011 as a firefighter on Engine 5, became involved with Local 785 early on, and has progressed to his role of vice president. The majority of his time with Lewiston has been spent on Engines 5 and 7.

Cory Higgins is a third-generation firefighter and has been promoted to lieutenant. He started his fire career at age 18 and was hired by the Lewiston Fire Department in June 2011. He enjoys teaching and mentoring new firefighters.

Higgins grew up in Lewiston and Brunswick. After graduating from Brunswick High School, he attended Southern Maine Community College for fire science work for the federal government as a summer wildlife firefighter.

Hannah Maurais is a new Lewiston firefighter, coming to Lewiston from Windham. She graduated from Southern Maine Community College with a degree in fire science in 2020 and holds a basic EMT license.

Brady Downing comes from Poland and a fire service family background. He is a Southern Maine Community College graduate with a degree in fire science and holds an advanced EMT license.