"The Cooper Volunteer Fire Department is not able to legally function," stated Fire Chief Trevor Flood at the August 15 Cooper Select Board meeting. He explained that this decision came during a recent meeting of the fire department personnel and its board of directors. As with departments throughout the state, the most pressing problem is lack of manpower. There are just not enough volunteers. Mutual aid agreements with neighboring towns will provide response to fires and other emergencies.
     Concerning how the lack of a fire department would affect residential insurance rates, Flood replied that Cooper is presently now rated as class 10. This is the lowest rating and therefore will not change.
     The select board affirmed that further discussion and meetings, including possibly a special town meeting, will be necessary before the final dismantling of the fire department. Decisions must be made for the disbursal of equipment and treasury funds. The Alexander Volunteer Fire Department might be approached to see if they will provide fire coverage.
The Cooper Select Board expressed regret and thanked the fire department members for their past efforts to protect the residents of Cooper.

Former chief kicks in door, expresses frustration
     The next day, Sunday, August 16, the Cooper Volunteer Fire Department building door on Route 191 was kicked in. The Maine State Police were summoned, and their investigation resulted in Cooper resident Dave Timpe being summoned for criminal mischief. Trooper Chad Lindsey states that Timpe admitted he had committed the deed and would pay for the damage he caused. Since this vandalism involved a town building, the Cooper Select Board and the district attorney will need to determine the exact charges. There was no vandalism inside of the building, and no items were stolen.
     Timpe states that the act "was a sort of symbolic gesture." As the former Cooper fire chief, he was expressing his frustration about the possible complete dismantling of the volunteer fire department. Kicking in the door he says will "get people's attention."
     Timpe believes that there may still be a way to keep a fire department in Cooper and run the fire department effectively and more cheaply. He feels that over the past few years the department has had an "unnecessary high budget with the resulting evaporation and waste of town money." He hopes Cooper residents will attend meetings and ask questions about why the fire department has to dismantle.
     Cooper is not the only Maine community struggling with the shortage of manpower for fire departments and the cost of providing fire protection and other services. Maine State Fire Marshal Joseph E. Thomas Jr. in the August‑September issue of The Maine Townsman magazine wrote, "Given current and existing conditions, traditional fire suppression measures are fighting an uphill battle." In the near future there will be workshops conducted by the Maine Fire Service Institute and the Office of Maine State Fire Marshal to help address these concerns.