Neil McPherson has been Wayland’s fire chief for the past seven years, helping to keep the town safe in a wide range of emergencies ranging from the smallest fires, the pandemic and a four-alarm fire.
McPherson has worked in the fire service for 35 years for Ashland, Sherborn, and now Wayland since 2016. His time with the WFD began when the town approved a new position of assistant fire chief.
When discussing his past experience, McPherson highlighted the staffing differences among the fire departments he’s worked with.
“When I started in Sherborn in 1989, it was a completely call firefighter system,” he said, referring to a system of all part-time firefighters. “Wayland is composed of only full-time firefighters.”
After a long corporate career, McPherson decided to change direction so he could give back to his community, leading to him becoming a part-time call firefighter.
“Shortly thereafter, I realized a passion for the fire service,” he said. “I’m thrilled that I made a career choice to work in the fire service full time.”
McPherson is in charge of the town’s 28-person fire department. His responsibilities include staff management, grant writing, equipment acquisition, community outreach, and a variety of other tasks.
“The best part of being a fire chief is having the opportunity to interact with a wide variety of constituents,” he said. “I also enjoy the variety of the job.”
A new responsibility for McPherson is implementing the new regional dispatch system between Wayland, Natick, and Framingham. There’s been a large push by public safety agencies toward regional dispatch centers instead of separate towns due to changes in regulations, finances, and staffing challenges, he said.
“Operating in a regional center will allow for a larger number of dispatch staff working each shift, and there are greater resources to handle larger events,” McPherson said. Currently, Wayland has up to two dispatchers working per shift.
The new dispatch system will field calls from all towns to a dispatch center in Framingham that has more staff and better technology and resources than a single town dispatch center.
The estimated completion date of the regional dispatch center is July 2027.
These regional dispatch centers will be used for all types of emergencies, from small residential calls to multi-station fires, like the 2023 four-alarm fire at the Route 27 plaza.
When the plaza burned, according to McPherson, the fire was worsened by the contents of the auto body shop, the lack of a fire sprinkler system and construction of the building. Firefighters were also hampered by a downed power line in front of the plaza, but eventually reinforcements from seven surrounding communities arrived. After 16 hours, the fire was suppressed, and only one firefighter suffered a minor leg injury.
