Man who walked on chief deal eyed full-time job

Mark Munroe (Courtesy photo)

LEBANON - The New Hampshire man who backed out of a deal to be the new town fire chief after being unanimously chosen by selectmen said he did so because a 20-hour a week position was not enough to fix the problems within the Lebanon Fire and Lebanon Rescue departments, Selectmen Chairman Ben Thompson told The Lebanon Voice on Friday.

Mark Munroe, currently an assistant fire chief at the South Hampton (NH) Fire Department, made the assertion after visiting both town departments' station houses and viewing the equipment, Thompson said.

Miunroe told selectmen it would take a 40-plus hour a week chief's position to solve the problems facing both departments, Thompson said in the email.

He added that selectmen are now reviewing applications from the pool of qualified candidates who applied.

Selectman Paul Philbrick said last week that three finalists, including Munroe, had been selected for the position from a pool of about 18 applicants, but an indication from Thompson on Friday that more interviews could be in the offing may point to a widening of the original finalist pool.

A message left for Munroe at the South Hampton Fire Station earlier this week was not returned. He also did not return several Facebook messages.