BY DERRICK PERKINSFor Fire Chief James Midgely, it’s the gift that keeps giving – a 17-room, two-story home donated by the school district to the department for handson practice. Saturday, Oct. 24, marked the first of many training sessions Pelham Fire Chief James Midgely will hold in a Burns Road home. It’s an opportunity the ...

By Gretyl Macalaster Candia Fire Chief Rudy Cartier submitted a request for a leave of absence from the department on Friday, Oct. 9, after the release of a report issued by the Rockingham County Attorney’s Office that criticized his leadership abilities. Selectmen granted the request the same day. Although selectmen were not prepared to ...

BY DERRICK PERKINSWith the Pelham Fire Station left with only two working bay doors after a motorist rammed the fire house last month, Chief James Midgley is worried the situation is just a glimpse of what is to come. Midgely has had to juggle how emergency vehicles are parked to deal with only having two working front doors out of four since the ...

BY DERRICK PERKINSAuthorities believe the cause of the fire that destroyed a mobile home on Mammoth Road on Aug. 17 was accidental, although the blaze remains under investigation. According to Fire Chief James Midgley, the fire ignited somewhere in the right rear portion of the mobile home, but officials are still trying to determine what set it ...

By DAN O’BRIENIt could be a while before Bow firefighters can move out of their dilapidated fire station on Knox Road. Until then, they’re sleeping in a camper outside. At least for the next month, that is. Many firefighters grew concerned about exposure to asbestos as crews continue for the next four or five weeks to remove the ...

BY DERRICK PERKINSShawn Buckley is one of the few local firefighters who had the opportunity to use the department’s aging ladder truck – now out of service and set to be sold off – during an actual fire. His one complaint: the ladder is designed to hold a weight of 250 pounds or less. Despite being one of the self-described ...

BY SARAH LEBRUNA fire truck from the Bedford Fire Department was involved in a crash on the F.E. Everett Turnpike southbound in Bedford on Tuesday, July 21. According to Bedford Fire Chief Scott Wiggin, the accident occurred while Engine No. 4 was responding to another crash involving a state trooper in the northbound lane of the highway. To ...

BY JILLIAN JORGENSENIn Bedford, the fire chief and top building code official are in support of the state adopting new national building and fire safety codes mandating fire sprinklers in all newly constructed one- and two-family homes, but home builders in the state say that the choice should be left to those buying homes. “Nobody ...

BY DERRICK PERKINSFire officials hope the switch to a new townwide communication system will make it easier to get emergency information out to residents without affecting the department’s bottom line. Though emergency management officials have used telephone lines to make reverse-911 calls to residents during an emergency in the past, Fire ...

At a recent Hopkinton selectmen meeting, part-time Fire Chief Richard Schaefer was appointed full-time acting fire chief. He will assume the full-time duties July 13. Schaefer has been a member of the Hopkinton Fire Department and ambulance squad for 30 years. He served as the part-time chief in 1999 and also served as full-time facilities ...