Fire Department

Salem Fire Department was formally organized on May 13, 1905.  At this time, its membership consisted of eighteen citizen volunteers.  The town's population was approximately 2,100 persons.  Since then, Salem has grown considerably and is known for its large commercial and retail industry as well as its residential population.  In 2010, the US census reported a residential population of 28,767.  However, our daytime population regularly exceeds 80,000 persons.  Salem Fire maintains an on-duty shift strength of fifteen persons within the community operating from our three fire stations.    

Currently, Salem Fire Department employs seventy-four men and women dedicated to protecting our town and its visitors twenty four hours a day, three hundred sixty-five days a year.  As a modern fire-rescue department, we provide many public safety services including:  Fire Suppression, Emergency Ambulance Transport; Fire Prevention; and Disaster Control Services.  Additionally, we are trained and respond to medical aids, hazardous materials incidents, specialized technical rescue situations, and fire prevention/inspection and public fire education requests.

The fire service has seen major changes in the past twenty years.  Salem now offers Advanced Life Support (ALS) level services staffing ambulances and fire apparatus with highly trained Firefighter Paramedics (EMT-P) and Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT-Intermediates and EMT-Basics).  All firefighting personnel are required to maintain their EMT certification to insure high-quality EMS services to our residents and visitors.  These cross-trained firefighters are able to provide life saving techniques including emergency medication administration, advanced airway management, advanced cardiac monitoring (including 12 lead EKG's) and many other services once only performed in hospitals and now at the scene of all medical emergencies in a prehospital setting.  We now also operate using the Incident Command System as recognized by the National Incident Management System (NIMS).  This nationally recognized system insures our officers maintain command and control of an incident, no matter the size or magnitude. The incident commander (IC) and the accompanying incident management team when necessary, must oversee operations, ensure firefighter and civilian safety and provide the most safe and effective service to mitigate emergencies within the community.  Other changes in the past decade include technological upgrades to firefighter protective equipment, changes in the fleet and perhaps the newest and most advanced piece of equipment, the thermal imaging camera (TIC).

Our motto has always been and will continue to be, "if you call us with a problem, we will do everything we can to help you."  We hope you enjoy browsing our site and learning more about Salem Fire.

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