WHITEFIELD — With federal help and funding, and as area forest fires increase from changing weather and more hiker traffic and tourism, Whitefield Fire Rescue (WFR) is looking to buy a modern forest fire truck to better protect woodland areas, including those near homes.
On Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Maggie Goodlander, D-NH, visited the fire department to meet with town leadership and first responders about federal funding for the purchase of a wildland-urban interface fire engine.
It would replace the department’s outdated forest fire truck it acquired five years ago through federal surplus with a new truck that would serve the entire region, offer double the water and firefighter capacity, provide greater firefighting power and speed through a larger pump and more gallons per minute, offer greater accessibility and reach into difficult areas, and make for a faster and more targeted wildfire response.
“This is the only one in the North Country, and it’s 40 years old,” assistant WFR chief Alan Smith said of the current truck.
Smith and his daughter, Kelly Smith Fuller, developed the grant application for the new truck.
He defined wildland-urban as “where the forest meets the houses.”
“Basically, all of Coos County is considered urban interface,” said Smith.
In November, Goodlander was able to secure Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) for the Whitefield project, which is part of a larger CDS package.
“Fingers crossed we get this across the finish line,” said Goodlander, whose visit included meeting with Smith, WFR chief John Ross, EMS supervisor Laura Lucas, fire inspector Jeff Currier, town manager Mike Lee, and municipal office staff.
Locally, Whitefield has hundreds of acres of forestland at White Mountains Regional High School and thousands more in the Pondicherry National Wildlife Refuge. The town also borders the 800,000-acre White Mountain National Forest, for which WFR also provides coverage, said Smith.
In addition, forest easements are being put into place in Nash Stream and Dummer.
WFR is a member of several mutual aid associations and responds to calls as far north as Pittsburg and south to Piermont.
“This could potentially go to 40 towns,” said WFR chief John Ross, who added that geographically the truck could be deployed to about half the state.
The new truck, like the current one, would remain at the Whitefield fire station, a central location for the northern region.
“We like to think of Whitefield as the epicenter of the North Country,” said Lee.
Wildland firefighters who would live in local towns and have national certifications.
WFR’s current wildland engine is two-wheel drive and can only carry 300 gallons of water and two wildland firefighters.
Ross and Smith noted that the truck would have difficulty climbing hills in challenging conditions.
The new vehicle, which would replace the current Type 3 with a modern Type 3 wildland truck, can carry four firefighters, is four-wheel drive to access more difficult terrain, can carry a minimum of 500 gallons of water and possibly up to 700, and can also fight house fires.
It would come in handy for the kind of wildland fire that last year broke out in Shelburne, which saw 100 acres burn over 14 days, said Smith.
The Shelburne area has been the site of several fires in recent years.
The Centennial fire required evacuations and, for two weeks, closed segments of the Appalachian Trail.
WFR also deployed the current truck to a fire in Conway that threatened a hotel last year.
Recent years of fires in Shelburne by the Appalachian Trail and elsewhere in the northern region were attributed to hikers and campfires, and some occurred amid droughts.
“It’s happening here more often,” Smith said of the fire frequency.
Closer to home, the wildland truck would be an asset for the kind of blaze that broke out in October 2017 along Brown Street near downtown Whitefield, where a house fire sent flames up a wooded backslope, burned through brush and leaves, and threatened a dozen other homes and The Morrison nursing home, where about 100 nursing home residents had to shelter in place.
For the CDS spending, Goodlander had to select 15 projects to fund and initially requested $500,000 for the Whitefield project.
For the truck, WFR has several options.
One manufacturer, the General Services Administration (GSA), is offering a new truck at a total price reduction of $380,000, meaning the town would have to fund the remaining $5,000. The truck delivery timeline, accounting for current supply chain issues and delays, is approximately 2 1/2 years.
The least expensive used truck would cost $540,000, meaning the town would need to secure a match, possibly through federal funds, to cover the balance.
“The GSA would be big for us,” said Smith.
“The GSA path seems like the one to get done,” said Goodlander.
In the grant application, WFR officials said, “Wildland fires in the region are increasing in frequency and severity, putting communities, recreation areas, and critical infrastructure at risk.”
“Whitefield cannot afford to replace this engine on its own, yet its benefit extends far beyond town borders — serving northern NH and providing mutual aid support across the state,” they said. “A new engine will protect homes, federal lands, recreation areas, and critical infrastructure, strengthening New Hampshire’s wildfire resilience and safeguarding both residents and the millions who visit each year.”
