2008 Annual Report
See Town Annual Report for More Details

Forestry:
The fire personnel also issued the burning permits as outlined by the Division of Forest and Lands of the State of New Hampshire. Forest and Lands Deputy Forest Fire Wardens Wayne Conroy, Chris Marcotte, Jim Blood, Mike Rastallis, David McCrillis, Chris Amos, and Jason Rook have identified the following personnel as authorized personnel.

Emergency Management/ Health Department:
This past year Newport experienced some bad weather conditions. The Ice Storm of 2008 left a lot of Newport residents without power. Thanks to the help of all public safety personnel, we all got through this. Firefighter Steven Haselton will be the new member of the Mid-Western New Hampshire Regional Hazardous Materials Team. Newport had a household Hazardous Materials Waste Collection Day held at Newport Public Works. It was a very busy day and thank you to all the volunteers. Chief Wayne Conroy is still active with the Greater Sullivan County all Health Hazardous Committee. Chief Conroy is working on the upgrade of Newport’s Emergency Operation Plan.

Community Service:
The Fire Station is also a Deer Tagging Station for the Department of Fish and Game during Hunting Season.

Fire Division:
The Newport Fire Department is unique to the community of Newport in that it is a combination of full-time Career Firefighters and On-Call Firefighters that work together to answer the emergency calls for the Town of Newport, and several surrounding communities. This year we saw a greater demand for service and an increase in our
response ending the year with 533 calls, this is an all time high for the department. The Newport Fire Department experienced many changes in 2008.

September saw the retirement of Chief Peter Lamb, Newport’s 11th Fire Chief.  We thank Peter for his 10 years of dedicated service to this department, and to the community.

The department welcomed the appointment of Deputy Fire Chief Wayne Conroy to the position of Fire Chief when he was sworn in as Newport’s 12th Chief on September 15th of 2008.

This appointment initiated several transitions of personnel throughout the department.

Captain Christopher Marcotte was appointed to Deputy Fire Chief, and Lieutenant Jim Blood then appointed to Captain of the Fire Division.  These three combined have 68 years of service to the Town of Newport.

After reviewing applications, and interviewing candidates the department has hired Firefighter / EMT Corey Conroy into a Career position.

The Career Personnel work a 24 hr shift throughout a 4-day rotation.  Their shift includes responding to Emergency Medical Service calls from 6am – 6pm and manning the Newport Fire Station as a driver /operator for fire calls from 6pm – 6am Career personnel are also responsible for the day-to-day maintenance and general upkeep of the Fire Station, as well as the 6 fire apparatus, and 3 ambulances.

Newport Fire-EMS Department is currently operating with:
1994 Spartan Engine
2004 Ferrara 1800 gal Engine/Tanker
2007 Ferrara Heavy Rescue
2007 Ferrara 107’ Ladder Truck
2007 GMC ¾ ton utility truck
2003 Dodge Durango Chief Command Vehicle
2004 Ford F-350 Road Rescue Ambulance
2006 Ford F-450 Road Rescue Ambulance
2008 Ford F-450 Road Rescue Ambulance

25 members divided into 4 Engine Companies make- up the Newport Fire Department Call Company. These dedicated individuals respond with the career personnel to all emergency calls.

With the ever-changing technology along with regulations set-forth by the state, training continues to be an important component of firefighting. Every firefighter is required to attend a minimum amount of training each year offered by the department. In addition firefighters also attend training off-site at the New Hampshire Fire Standards and Training Facility in Concord NH.

This year the Newport firefighters attended a combined 510 hrs of department training to
included:

• Communications /Digital Portable Radios
• Forest Fire Operations: NH Forest Fire Division Special Deputy David Jones
• Interior Fire Attack Operations at New London Training Facility
• Homeland Security Incident Management System transition module
• Chimney Fire response and Ladder truck operations
• Apparatus / Equipment Inventory

Newport Firefighters also attended 1,030 hours of training at the New Hampshire Fire Standards and Training Facility.  The following members of the call-company attended Level I firefighter certification course in 2008 for a total of 225 hrs. each.

• Firefighter Eric Benson,
• Firefighter Yann Balu,
• Firefighter Wm “Duffy” Thompson. Firefighter Benson also attended 110 hrs. of Level II certification.
  

Specialized training with Newport EMS division the Rescue Company training included

• OHRV trail rescue
• Swift water rescue
• Vehicle extrication
  

Newport Fire Division through the combined efforts of retired EMS director Brian Tracy, and Firefighter/Paramedic Richard “Pokey” Low coordinated an Emergency Medical Technician – Intermediate course. The following members are scheduled to graduate in the first part of 2009. Deputy Chief Marcotte, Captain Blood, Lieutenant Amos, Lieutenant Rook, Firefighter Corey Conroy, and Firefighter Smith.

The Department applied for and was fortunate to receive a U.S.D.A. grant award allowing the purchase of 35 sets of interior structure firefighting gear and 25 set of EMS gear.

I would like to thank all area agencies, businesses, organizations, and citizens who have supported the Newport Fire Department this past year. With special Thanks to the dedicate members and families who take time and effort necessary to make our community a better and safer place to live and work.

Jim Blood,
NFD Captain

EMS Division:

2008 was a unique year for Newport Fire-EMS. The number of calls the EMS division responded to saw an increase of over 200 calls from the previous year. 2007 we responded to approximately 1200 calls. 2008 we responded to approximately 1410 calls.  2009 is shaping up to be a very busy year also. Many thanks to all our EMS personnel for their time and dedication to the organization.

2008 was a busy training year for Newport Fire-EMS. We were able to offer 28 hours of continuing education in house with some of the topics covering cardiac emergencies, childbirth, and airway management. We had 7 EMT’s take the Intermediate course that offered last November.

The generous donation from the ladies of the Newport Service Organization allowed us to purchase a new ambulance in 2008. They also assisted us with purchasing several new training devices to help us maintain our skills through out the years. We thank them for all of their help over the years. The NSO’s generosity helps us to further our education and provide advanced care to the people of Newport.

Kenneth Carleton,
EMS Division Captain

Words from the Chief:

As the Chief of the Department, I wish to extend my sincere appreciation to the members and their families of both divisions of the Fire-EMS for their loyalty and dedication to serve. I am pleased that the Newport Firefighters Association and the Newport Ambulance Attendant Association continue to serve the community and our citizens.

A special note of thanks goes to those individuals and organizations that have helped us behind the scenes. Thank you goes out to the Newport Service Organization for their generous donations over the years.

We also want to thank you, our customers and taxpayers for allowing us to serve you day in and day out. Thanks to all the support from the Department Heads and all Town personnel for their cooperation as this is what makes Newport a great place to work and a great place to live.

Wayne R. Conroy,
Chief of Department