Volunteer firefighter Eric Grant packed a small cooler with snacks and some reading material before climbing into the bucket of the St. Stephen Fire Department’s ladder truck, where he would spend the next 50 hours suspended at least 50 feet above King Street.
Over more than two decades, the fundraiser has become a St. Stephen tradition and an opportunity for the community to support the firefighters who spend the rest of the year showing up for them.
Grant was taking on the challenge for the second consecutive year. This time, however, the event carried added meaning.
“This is our biggest fundraiser of the year,” Grant said, speaking with The Courier shortly before being lifted into the air. “It was started 22 years ago by a firefighter named Merton Lewis. Last year, Merton passed away, and so this year is in memory of him.”
The challenge revolves around the numbers 50 and five. One firefighter spends at least 50 hours in the bucket, positioned a minimum of 50 feet above the ground. For every hour Grant’s fellow firefighters volunteered at the roadside toll below, he earned a five-minute break on solid ground.
Grant did not appear concerned about how he would fill the time.
“I’ve got some work to do with my other things that I’m involved with,” he said. “I’ll be doing a couple of Zoom meetings from the bucket and just looking around, enjoying the scenery around St. Stephen.”
As Grant rose toward the 50-foot mark, his fellow firefighters went to work below, collecting donations in buckets of their own. Before long, the horns of passing cars on King Street had become the soundtrack to the afternoon — a steady reminder that, even when one firefighter is doing the sitting, the Bucket Sit remains a community effort.
This year’s proceeds will go toward wildland-urban interface firefighting equipment used to battle fires in areas where forests and other vegetation meet homes, businesses and developed parts of the community.
Over the years, the fundraiser has helped the department acquire rescue vehicles, equipment for cleaning protective gear and specialized tools. Those are significant purchases for a department that relies heavily on volunteers to respond to emergencies in St. Stephen and surrounding communities, including across the border in Washington County, Maine.
Grant has been a volunteer firefighter for nearly 20 years, most of them with the St. Stephen department. He also works full-time as a paramedic, an experience that translates naturally between his two emergency-service roles.
“I’ve always had a strong sense of volunteerism within the local communities that I live in,” he said. “It was a good fit for me.”
Donors who contributed $50 or more received a rung displaying their name on ‘Mert’s Escape Ladder.’ It was both an added incentive to give and a tribute to the firefighter who first climbed into the bucket more than two decades ago.
Grant is now safely back on the ground, but donations can still be made in person at the St. Stephen Fire Department or by e-transfer to ssfddonations@gmail.com. Tax receipts are available upon request.
