Hampton Fire-Rescue

Hampton Fire-Rescue protects over 15,000 year round residents and approximately 14.2 square miles containing over 2.3 billion dollars of property. During the summer season approximately 100,000 daily visitors come to Hampton to enjoy miles of Atlantic coastline and its beaches. The Department provides fire suppression, emergency medical services at the paramedic level, technical rescue, water rescue, hazardous materials incident mitigation, disaster response, fire prevention and inspections, public education, and various types of public services and assistance. In 2006 the department responded to 5,000 calls for service.

Hampton Fire-Rescue is led by the Fire Chief and operates from two fire stations strategically located throughout the Town. Department Operations are led by Deputy Fire Chief Steve Benotti. The Department has a Fire Prevention Bureau that includes a Fire Prevention Officer and a Fire Inspector and one secretary. There are four shifts that provide the initial response to emergencies and other various calls for service.

The Department's area of responsibility includes the diversity of emergency responses associated with a major interstate highway, industrial complexes, densely built and populated areas, a resort beach with its large seasonal population, miles of Atlantic coastline, and nearly a half square mile of inland waters.

Currently there are (2) officers, (7) firefighters and (1) fire alarm operator on each of the four shifts.  Each shift works a rotating schedule of day and night shifts covering 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Station One, which is located on Ashworth Avenue in the Beach District, is staffed with (1) Captain, (1) Firefighter/EMT and (1)Firefighter/Paramedic who are all assigned to an ALS (Advanced Life Support) Engine company.  The (1) Fire Alarm operator is assigned to the dispatch center at Station One. 

Station Two, which is located on Winnacunnet Road in the Town District, is staffed with (1) Lieutenant and (5) Firefighters.  The Lieutenant and (2) firefighters are assigned to an Engine company.  Two (2) firefighters are assigned to an Ambulance and the other (1) firefighter is assigned to the Ladder truck.  The ladder position is left unfilled when there is a shift vacancy. The (2) firefighters that are assigned to the ambulance also move over and staff the departments Ladder Truck when it is needed.  If two emergency medical calls occur simultaneously the (2) firefighters that are assigned to the Engine company move over and staff a second Ambulance and respond to the call.  By shifting the (2) firefighters to the Ambulance the Engine company is now out of service and unavailable to respond to emergencies.  As you can see there are many times when the Engine, Ambulance or Ladder company are out of service and unavailable to respond to emergencies because there are not enough firefighters on duty, to staff enough apparatus, enough of the time.

For more general information check out www.hamptonfirerescue.com and for historical information go the Lane Memorial Library website.