The Onset Fire District election, scheduled for May 18, features a four-way race for First Assistant Engineer and several uncontested races.

The Onset Fire District operates the Onset Fire Department and the water department for the village of Onset. Residents pay a district tax to cover the expenses of those departments.

Running for First Assistant Engineer, the election's only contested race, are Jeffrey Dias, William Ellis, Michael Hodge, and Robert Maxim. The First Assistant Engineer is the second in command at the fire department, under the fire chief. The position is currently held by Gene Crocker, who is retiring.

Jeffrey Dias

Dias, of Old Town Road, has worked for the Onset Fire Department since 1998 and has been one of six full-time firefighters since 2005. He worked as an on-call lieutenant for nearly two years before accepting the full-time position.

Dias said he will bring years of experience and training to the First Assistant Engineer position.

"I've spent the last 12 years of my life preparing myself for this time in my career," Dias said.

He said he has taken more than 30 classes from the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy. He completed the Fire Officer 1 class, a supervisory class that prepares firefighters to oversee a crew on one apparatus. He will complete the Fire Officer 2 class this week, which trains firefighters to supervise an entire incident scene, which is one of the responsibilities of the First Assistant Engineer.

Dias is also a Rescue Specialist with the Plymouth County Technical Rescue Team and is trained on rope rescue, trench rescue, confined space rescue, and structural collapse. He was a sergeant in the Army before becoming a firefighter.

William Ellis

Ellis, of Ellis Avenue, served as the Onset Fire Department's Second Assistant Engineer from 1997 to 2003. The Second Assistant Engineer is an elected position underneath the First Assistant.

Ellis joined the fire department in the late 1970s and said he has more than 27 years of experience on the job. He was not reappointed as an on-call firefighter after he was defeated in the 2003 election.

"I want to continue doing the job that I did in serving the taxpayers of the Onset Fire District," Ellis said. He was in charge of payroll and vehicle maintenance while Second Assistant Engineer.

Ellis has various fire officer classes and several other Massachusetts Firefighting Academy courses, including instant command system, instant safety officer, and hazardous materials first responder. He said he is up-to-date on his CPR and First Aid training.

This article incorrectly indicated that Ellis had taken the Fire Officer 1 and 2 classes. Wareham Week apologizes for the mistake.

Michael Hodge

Hodge, of Fresh Meadow Drive, has been a firefighter for 36 years. He spent 35 years as a full-time firefighter in Bourne, where he also served as acting lieutenant, before retiring. He has been an on-call firefighter in Onset for one year.

Hodge said he is running because he can bring many years of experience to the First Assistant Engineer position and because he takes great pride in being a firefighter. "To me, [firefighting] is a hobby. It's never been a job for me," he said.

Hodge has done pre-fire planning to come up with strategies for attacking fires, which is one of the responsibilities of the First Assistant Engineer.

"I'm used to that," he said. "I've done that my whole life."

Hodge became an EMT in Bourne in 1977, was a paramedic from 1979 through 1984, and has worked with the Wareham EMS since January.

Candidate Maxim could not be reached before Wareham Week went to press. If we receive information, it will be posted with this story on WarehamVillageSoup.com.

Running for an open Prudential Committee seat, which oversees the finances of the district, is incumbent Marcine Fernandes, of Onset Avenue. Running for Water Commissioner is incumbent Brian O'Hearne, of Cahoon Road in Buzzards Bay. No one has run for the position of Moderator.

The Onset Protective League will host a candidates' night on Thursday, May 13, at 7 p.m. at the Dudley Brown V.F.W. post, 5 Gibbs Ball Park Road. The Onset Fire District annual meeting will be held on Monday, May 17, at 7:30 p.m., at the V.F.W., and the election will be on Tuesday, May 18, also at the V.F.W.