Fire protection in New Hampshire is a local responsibility. No statewide fire department answers your 911 call. Each city and town decides how to staff, fund and equip its own service. The result is a mix of full-time city departments, part-time call companies, volunteer stations and independent fire districts. Our directory holds 411 fire department records across the state. Knowing how those pieces fit together saves time when you need a burn permit, an inspection or a straight answer on a non-emergency question. This page explains who runs what, how the regions differ and what to do before you pick up the phone.

Who Governs Fire Service in New Hampshire

Day-to-day authority sits with the municipality. Town voters approve the fire budget at town meeting, usually in March. A chief runs operations, often appointed by the select board or a fire commission. Some areas are served by a village fire district or precinct. That is a separate taxing body with its own commissioners and its own warrant. If your tax bill carries a line for a fire district, that body, not the town, sets the department's budget.

At the state level, most responsibilities sit within the Department of Safety. The Office of the State Fire Marshal supports local code enforcement, reviews plans for certain buildings and assists local departments with fire investigations. The Division of Fire Standards and Training and Emergency Medical Services runs the New Hampshire Fire Academy in Concord and licenses EMS providers. Forest fires and outdoor burning are handled differently. They fall under the Division of Forests and Lands, which works through local forest fire wardens, and in most towns the warden is part of the fire department.

State law, collected in the Revised Statutes Annotated (RSA), sets out how towns may establish fire departments, appoint fire wards and form districts. New Hampshire also adopts a state fire code based on national standards. Local fire officials usually carry out the inspections. If you are unsure which rule applies to your property, start with your town's fire prevention officer rather than the state.

Career Departments in Manchester, Nashua, Concord and Portsmouth

The southern tier of the state has most of the full-time departments. Manchester, the largest city, has more listings in our database than any other place. Nashua comes next, including City of Nashua Fire and Rescue Station 1 at 15 Amherst Street. Concord Fire Department operates from 24 Horseshoe Pond Lane, close to the state capital's government offices. City of Portsmouth Fire Department Station 2 sits on Lafayette Road. Out west, City of Keene Fire Department's Central Station is at 32 Vernon Street.

Suburban towns along the Interstate 93 and Route 3 corridors run substantial departments of their own. Examples include Derry Fire Department's headquarters at 131 East Broadway, Hudson Fire Department at 15 Library Street, Londonderry Fire Rescue at 535 Mammoth Road and Merrimack Fire Department's headquarters at 432 Daniel Webster Highway. You will find these on the Hillsborough County and Rockingham County pages, the two busiest counties in the directory.

Full-time departments staff their stations around the clock. Most handle fire suppression, emergency medical response and often ambulance transport. They also take on hazardous materials calls, technical rescue and code inspections. Administrative work happens on weekday office hours, so call then for inspections, records requests, station tours and fire safety classes.

Some listings do not match their mailing city. Goffstown Fire Department Station 19, at 656 Mast Road, appears under Manchester in our data, although the name refers to Goffstown, the neighbouring town. The Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Fire Department is a federal installation department, not a town service. The shipyard sits across the Piscataqua River in Kittery, Maine, which explains the 207 area code on its listing. Check the street address and the town named on the building before you drive anywhere.

Call and Volunteer Stations in Rural New Hampshire

North and west of the Merrimack Valley, the picture changes. Many towns rely on call firefighters, who are paid per response or per hour, or on volunteers who live nearby. Deering Volunteer Fire Department at 762 Deering Center Road is one example. Alstead Fire Department on Forest Road and Antrim Fire Department on Clinton Road serve small communities where the station may be staffed only during a call or a scheduled event.

Distance shapes the system. Many rural towns run more than one station so that apparatus is closer to every neighbourhood. Chesterfield Fire and Rescue has a Center Station on Route 63. Fitzwilliam Fire Department keeps a substation at 13 Templeton Turnpike. Swanzey Fire Department's Center Station is on Old Homestead Highway. All three belong to the Cheshire County group. Similar patterns show up elsewhere:

Do not assume someone is sitting at the desk at a volunteer station. If you only need paperwork or information, call during posted hours or contact the town office. If there is smoke, flame, a medical emergency or a hazard, dial 911 and do not drive to the station. The same applies in the North Country and the Upper Valley, where the Grafton County and Coos County pages cover long distances, mountain roads and sparse populations.

Mutual Aid and Dispatch Between Neighbouring Towns

No small town can staff for every worst-case scenario, so New Hampshire departments lean on mutual aid. Towns sign agreements to send engines, tankers and crews when a neighbour needs help. Regional compacts coordinate this. Lakes Region Mutual Fire Aid, at 62 Communications Drive in Laconia, is a listed example in Belknap County. It serves as a coordination and dispatch point for departments around the lakes.

In practice, a 911 call is answered by the state's enhanced 911 system and then passed to the appropriate local or regional dispatch center. If the first engine is far away, dispatchers may send a closer unit from the next town. That is why you may see a truck with another town's name on it at your door. Response still depends on weather, road conditions and how many firefighters are available at that hour, so working smoke alarms matter more in rural areas.

Using a New Hampshire Fire Department for Everyday Needs

Most contact with a fire department has nothing to do with a fire. These are the requests that come up most often:

Before you call, have your street address, a brief description of what you need and any permit or report number ready. Phone numbers in a directory can go out of date or contain errors. For example, the Deering listing shows an out-of-state area code, so confirm it with the town office before relying on it. Always use 911 for an active emergency.

Fire departments across New Hampshire range from large career departments in major cities to volunteer departments serving small rural communities, all operating under state fire codes and local ordinances to protect residents from fire and emergency hazards.

Fire Departments locations are available in 209 cities across New Hampshire. They are spread across 10 counties.

Cities with the highest concentration include Manchester, Nashua, Concord, which have multiple fire stations strategically located to maintain rapid response times for their dense populations.

Residents of New Hampshire should know your local fire department's non-emergency phone number so you can request burn permits, safety inspections, and community programs without tying up the 911 emergency line.

Fire Departments by Counties

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Residents of New Hampshire planning any outdoor burning should contact their local fire department for open burning regulations and permit requirements, which can vary significantly by county and season due to drought conditions and fire danger ratings.

Browse Fire Departments by county across New Hampshire to find the nearest location.

Finding the Right Fire Station Across New Hampshire's Ten Counties

New Hampshire has ten counties, but fire service does not follow county lines. Counties run the sheriff's offices and some other functions, while each fire department answers to its own town, city or district. Still, county pages are the fastest way to narrow a search. Start with the county where the property or incident is located, then look for the town name in the station's title.

The southern counties are the densest. Hillsborough County and Rockingham County hold the biggest cities and suburbs. Merrimack County includes Concord and its surrounding towns. In the Monadnock region, Cheshire County is a mix of Keene's career department and small town stations. Around the lakes and mountains, Carroll County and Belknap County see seasonal population swings, which affect call volume in summer and winter. The North Country in Coos County and the Upper Valley in Grafton County depend heavily on mutual aid.

A few habits help. Use the station's own name, such as Center Station or Substation, to tell similar entries apart. Confirm the town on the building before visiting. Ask whether the office is staffed or whether you should phone ahead.

No single agency runs local fire departments. Each one answers to its town, city or fire district. The state's role sits mainly within the Department of Safety. The Office of the State Fire Marshal supports code enforcement and fire investigation. The Division of Fire Standards and Training and Emergency Medical Services operates the New Hampshire Fire Academy in Concord and licenses EMS providers. For outdoor burning, the Division of Forests and Lands in the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources works with local forest fire wardens. For service questions, call your own department first.

In most of the state, yes. Open burning of brush generally requires a permit from the local forest fire warden, who is often the fire chief or a designated deputy. Many wardens issue permits by phone, at the station or through an online system. The warden can deny a permit when conditions are dry, windy or otherwise risky. Burning household trash is not allowed. Rules and conditions can change by season, so check with your town's fire department on the day you plan to burn, and never leave a fire unattended.

By number of departments, most are call or volunteer, especially in small towns. Full-time career staffing is concentrated in larger places such as Manchester, Nashua, Concord, Portsmouth and Keene. Many towns use a hybrid model with a few paid staff on duty and call firefighters filling out the response. Our listings include volunteer-named departments like Deering Volunteer Fire Department alongside city departments. The label matters for practical reasons. A volunteer station may not have anyone present for walk-in visits, so phone ahead for non-emergency business.

This is mutual aid, and it is routine in New Hampshire. Towns sign agreements to back each other up, and regional dispatch centers coordinate the response. Lakes Region Mutual Fire Aid in Laconia is one listed example. If a neighbouring station is closer, or your own crew is already on another call, dispatchers may send the nearest available unit. You do not need to arrange anything yourself. Dispatch handles it. Mutual aid is also why some structure fires bring engines from several towns at once.

Contact the department that responded, or its town or district office. Public records in New Hampshire are covered by the Right-to-Know law, RSA 91-A, and many departments accept written requests by mail or email during business hours. Give the date, the street address and the type of incident. Some details, such as medical information, are protected and may be withheld or redacted. Insurance companies often ask for a report, so request it early. If the incident involved a regional dispatch center, you may need to ask both offices.

Verify it before you rely on it. Directory data can contain errors. For example, the Deering Volunteer Fire Department entry shows an out-of-state area code, and the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Fire Department entry carries a Maine number because the shipyard is in Kittery. Call the town office or check the town's official website to confirm the correct line. For any emergency, skip the directory entirely and dial 911, which connects you to the right dispatcher wherever you are in the state.