******** Historical Prospective of the Litchfield Fire Department ********

The Litchfield Fire Department was formed on Monday May 13, 1946. The information meeting called to order by J. Wesley French was held at the School House. Elected to serve as its first officers were J. Wesley French, Chief Fire Ward and President; Charles B. Campbell, Clerk; Sylvester Reid, First Assistant; and Henry Plouff, Jr.; Second Assistant. The following is a copy of the original minutes of that meeting:

(Note the Litchfield School House that they are referring to is the original two room bricked portion of Griffin Memorial School nearest to Charles Bancroft Highway.)

During the 1940’s and 1950’s fire fighters were called one at a time by phone when they were needed. Because they had party lines, Chief Robert Jerry’s wife would try giving the phone a very long ring. The first fire number in Litchfield was 1-2-7 Ring 2. Often was the case someone had to run out to the field with the message.

In the late 1940’s the town purchased a 38’ International truck. Robert Jerry attached a 750 gallon tank and trailer pump motor to it. It moved slowly from the weight of the water, but work well. From 1949-1959 the fire truck was housed at the Litchfield Garage for $240 dollars a year. Even till this very day there is still a crack on the floor from the weight of the truck. Both Robert Jerry and his son Richard cut up to 15 cords of wood a year to keep the garage heated.

Most of the fire department’s equipment was stored at either the French homestead, the residence adjacent to the school, at the Broadview Farm or at the Litchfield Garage. The firemen at their May 26, 1954 meeting discussed construction of a fire station, but it was not until March 13, 1957 that a building committee consisting of Leon Calawa, Jr., Eugene Pelkey and George Adams was named. Fred McQuesten donated the sand and gravel while George Adams donated the use of two cement mixers. The following is the actual minutes from the meeting:

The construction of the two bay stations was accomplished over the next several years with volunteer labor, donated materials, and monies from fund-raisers around town. Sterling Colby donated the lumber. The only problem was that the “lumber” was still growing in the forest. The fire department gathered every weekend to cut down the wood and bring it to the saw mill.  The town did not own the land under the fire station until the early fifties. It was purchased from Mrs. Repman who owned what is now the Chamberlin residence.

During the following years, the fire chief continued to be elected by the firemen or appointed by the Selectmen until March 10, 1959, when the office of the fire chief became an elected position. The following are the actual minutes of that meeting:

April 1973 the Insurance Services Offices of New Hampshire presented to the selectmen a list of recommend improvements the town would need to have its fire department officially recognized. This would also set the insurance rates for the community based on the location of hydrants vs. homes. The department at the time had fourteen actual members, owned one tanker and had no operable pumper.

In October 1975 Litchfield entered its new “lime yellow” fire truck in its Fire Prevention Week parade. The truck was obtained in June through the Bear Brook Forestry Division. The department’s Autocar had finally been abandoned when its latest problem, a broken axle, finally led the department to give up on it. The “new” truck was a 1955 GMC 6x6 Army surplus vehicle modified for use as brush fire unit by department members. The town acquired its Pierce 1,000 gpm fire truck in March 1976 at a cost of $35,000. Delivery had taken two years. It was designated as Engine #2.

In a town meeting in March 1979 an addition to the fire house was approved to accommodate another new engine.

In June the department started the addition to its 20 year old structure at no cost to the town. Two Litchfield businesses agree to donate the cement blocks. Rick Charboneau agreed to do the site preparation work before the construction began. The department got used overhead glass doors and the addition was completed.

In July of that year, former Charles Manson family member, Linda Kasabian, was one of the nine people charged with rioting and interfering with fire apparatus from an April bonfire that got out of hand. The state was under a severe fire danger rating. The group had started the fire on Rt. 3A without a permit and tried to stop the fire department from extinguishing it. The new fire engine was slightly damaged in the altercation, when a gang member kicked in one of the doors.

In February 1980 a suspicious fire destroyed the 72 year-old Naumkeag Grange Hall, (the hall was the scene of dances, balls, plays, and Saturday Night Socials). A neighbor reported seeing someone leaving the historical building shortly before the fire started.

(Naumkeag Grange Hall (photo from Nashua Telegraph article dated 02-11-1980)

In April, while firefighters battled a 3 and ½ acre brush fire on Page Road, a hot spot flared up around the forestry truck causing $500-$1000 in damage.

In May, a 140 acre brush fire devastated the Town’s forest fire budget. It took days to extinguish all the hot spots. Some 200 firefighters and volunteers, from 16 committees battled the blaze, which started along the power lines at the Londonderry-Litchfield town line. This happened exactly 50 years after Nashua’s Crown Hill fire.

In August, the new Pierce 1000 gpm pumper, designated as Engine #1 was delivered and place in service. At the same time, Assistant Chief Richard Jerry completed work on a 5500 gallon trailer to be used as a water tanker. The unit, designated as Tanker #2 was pulled by a used 1970 Mack tractor, acquired from Holmes Transportation for $4,800.

In December, Litchfield’s new Engine #1 and Tanker #2 was a part of the Mutual Aid attempt to save the Elms in Manchester. Unfortunately it was destroyed dispite the effort.

In March 1982 a controversy erupted over the absence of women on the fire department’s force. Some women, who drove school buses, had already asked to join the department. The Fire Chief at the time said men didn’t want to work with women, and the firefighter’s wives “objected to the husbands attending training sessions at night with women.” The first two women were appointed in 1984 and 1985 were Suzanne Sullivan and Lori Flood.

In October of 1983, a resident drove over an embankment on Rt. 3A and was trapped in her car for two days before someone spotted her car and called for help. Her husband hadn’t reported her missing, thinking she might be off visiting friends. The fire department extricated her and stabilized her for transport to the hospital.

In March of 1984, the 150 year-old Broadview Farm house burned to the ground. It was believed that the fire was set. In the course of fighting the fire, Chief Tom Levesque fell head first off the burning second floor to the bottom, he was not hurt.

(Broadview Farm (photo from Nashua Telegraph article dated March 3, 1984)

In April of the year a fire destroyed the Litchfield drive-in. This fire resulted in the first fire fatality, as the owner, Mrs. Theresa Dufault succumbed to burns and smoke inhalation.

On March 29, 1985, a fire at Olson’s Mobile Home Park destroyed the home of Francis Decoteaux. Mr. Decoteaux was hospitalized with burns.

In 1986, the Town’s first Complete School Fire Prevention Program was established and the new rescue boat was obtained.

On October 19, 1987, two young children and their mother parished in an early morning fire on Campbell Drive. It was the worse of life at any fire in Litchfield’s history. The loss of the Sherrick family was deeply felt. In the year following, the Town’s Fire Prevention week was expanded to include an essay at the Junior High level. An open house and demonstration at the Fire Station was planned. Mr. Sherrick worked to form the Sherrick Family Memorial Fire Prevention Fund, the primary purpose of which is to provide every school aged child in Litchfield the best fire prevention material and messages possible.

Also in 1987 ************l and ********* became our first two full time fire fighters.

On December 4, 1991 the new tanker/pumper arrived.

In 1992, two fire department personnel, Timothy Kearns and Dwayne Hogencamp received their degrees as Paramedics. (Each fire fighter must be state certified by taking Fire Fighter Level 1 course consisting of 110 hours of training.)  Becoming a ritual they line up for there annual Fire Parade and awe young and old alike.

On July 1, 1995 the Emergency Response number 9-1-1 was put into effect in Litchfield. On December 3rd we received a 1250 gpm red pumper which became the new Engine #2.

In 1996, the fire station and all equipment are open to all. Children love to come and see the big rigs and meet the firefighters. This has been an annual tradition for many years.

In June of 1996 the Litchfield Fire Department received their latest acquisition, “The Jaws of Life” which since has been used on several occasions and with great success.

To date (2007), the Litchfield Fire department has a total of 32 firefighters. Thirty of them are part-time or “call” firefighters, meaning they respond from their homes or, in some cases, businesses in the event of a call. We have two “full time”, firefighters & EMT's working from the station 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM Monday through Friday. Saturday's are also staffed with at least two firefighters, one of which is an EMT from 8AM-4PM.

Special thanks to Corlyn Yusuf for the historical information that was used on this page.