New Hampshire Receives 6 Trucks To Fight Forest Fires

CONCORD, NH — The state of New Hampshire has received six tankers to assist with firefighting in forests and fields across the state.

According to the NH Forest Protection Bureau, which announced the acquisition on Monday, the six surplus vehicles are from the Federal Excess Personal Property Program. The program works with the Defense Department to make vehicles available to state foresters.

They are being loaned to the state, at no cost, for fire protection and emergency services. The three 5-ton and three 2.5-ton Stewart-Stevenson vehicles will be retrofitted with 1,000-gallon and 500-gallon tanks of water — something the fire departments will have to pay for. The bureau said, typically, a forestry unit would be limited to vehicles with between 100- and 250-gallon capacities.

“Being able to facilitate getting these vehicles to New Hampshire and to then loan them to communities that can use their extra capacity will go a long way toward helping reduce potential wildfire damage in our state,” NH Forest Protection Bureau Chief Steven Sherman said. “The cost to purchase them would total more than $1 million, so having them as part of New Hampshire’s wildfire fighting toolkit isn’t just good practice, it’s also a win from a fiscal standpoint.”

During the past five fiscal years, there was an average of 119 wildfires that impact around 276-acres each year.

Bartlett, Loudon, and Temple will be loaned the 2.5-ton vehicles while Londonderry and Pembroke will get the 5-ton vehicles. The third 5-ton vehicle has yet to be assigned, the bureau said.

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