Firefighter suspended after DUI arrest
Staff writer
A Lincolnville firefighter arrested July 13 for allegedly driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs has been suspended until further notice.
Lincolnville Fire Chief Les Kaiser confirmed his department took action against Evan D. Slater, 30, Burdick, shortly after Slater’s arrest.
“We take this matter very seriously,” Kaiser said Tuesday. “It is being handled as an internal personnel issue.”
Slater was booked into jail on suspicion of driving under the influence, transporting an open container of alcohol, and driving on the left side of the road.
Formal charges have not been filed, but Slater has been arrested twice before on alcohol-related charges.
Slater was charged in 2012 with driving under the influence and fleeing or attempting to elude police. In 2015, he was charged with purchase or consumption of liquor by a minor. He received diversions on both charges.
From 2021 to 2022, while on the Florence fire department, Slater was at the center of controversy that ultimately led the city to dissolve its fire department and appoint new volunteers.
A complaint arose about a fire Nov. 20, 2021, at which Slater, son of then-chief Mark Slater, allegedly arrived drunk and got into a verbal altercation with the property owner.
The owner filed a complaint that said Slater was “very surly, accusing [me] of setting fire and adding to the fire. Not watching the fire. [Slater] was drunk. Accused us of neglect. Was threatening to fight with a 62-year-old,” the complaint states.
Two weeks later, council members asked Mark Slater whether the complaint was being handled.
During a meeting Feb. 28, 2022, council members suspended Evan Slater. A week later, the council fired Mark Slater.
The straw that broke the camel’s back was when only two firefighters showed up to fight a burning building at a quarry in April. At the next meeting, council members dissolved the department but kept five of the members.
The department was rebuilt and now functions better, former Florence City Council member and firefighter Matt Williams said.