I have been appointed by the State of Maine as an official State Fire Warden. I had been semi-officially doing it for a while but now it’s going full blown official, shiny badge and all. A Fire Warden is different than a Fire Chief – A Fire Chief runs the fire dept. & it’s equipment/men and fights both structural fires and forest fires while a Fire Warden is more like the fire police – issuing burn permits, serving fines on people who don’t comply with fire regulations, writing reports about all structural & forest fires, assisting fighting forest fires, and coordinating external assistance (the helicopters and planes that drop fire retardant) in case of major forest fire. I do not have to sit in a lookout post all summer, but I do have to be on the lookout for fire/smoke. And did I mention the shiny badge? So… if anyone even THINKS about playing with matches in my jurisdiction you can bet that I’m going to change right into a rabid Smokey the Bear and bite… your… ass! (The Fireman GIFs are not of me!)