OXFORD — The search for the town’s next fire chief begins Tuesday evening when a committee tasked with recommending a candidate will begin sorting through 42 applications. 

The five-member panel will begin deliberations at the Oxford Town Hall at 6 p.m., though the conversations will be held privately because employee hiring procedures are typically confidential. 

Oxford has received 42 applications, according to Town Manager Michael Chammings.

Last June, residents voted to change the fire chief’s position from part time and elected to full time and appointed, a move recommended by selectmen and Chammings that has since become controversial with the Fire Department. 

Firefighters say the town violated state election laws by failing to hold a public hearing prior to the vote, and have hired a lawyer who sent selectmen a letter to that effect last month. 

They contend that firefighters were not approached about the decision beforehand as a courtesy and view the move as an attempt to oust fire Chief Scott Hunter, who has opposed Chammings on recent fire-safety issues.

According to Chammings, the town was not required to hold a public hearing and met the minimum requirement of posting the vote on the town’s meeting warrant. The move, he said, was vetted by the town’s lawyer. 

Chammings previously said that electing a fire chief has become antiquated because training and paperwork requirements demand a full-time, highly-technical position.

Hunter, who works as a battalion commander for the Auburn Fire Department, is an applicant. 

The search committee is comprised of Board of Selectmen Chairman Floyd Thayer, Assistant fire Chief Ed Adams, police Chief Jon Tibbetts, road foreman and former Norway fire Deputy Chief Steve Brown and former police chief and former Oxford Public Safety Director Ron Kugell.

There is no deadline for the committee’s work. 

“The committee will determine how much time they need to properly review the applications and conduct interviews,” Chammings said in an email.

“It will be a challenging task; there are a lot of experienced people that applied,” he said. 

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