North Hampton Fire Rescue, Mutual Aid Partners Wind Down Six-Day Effort to Contain Multi-Acre Brush Fire

NORTH HAMPTON — Interim Chief Jacob MacGlashing reports that the North Hampton Fire Department, with significant support from numerous mutual aid partners from three states, is winding down operations at the site of a multi-acre brush fire.

Since Thursday, Aug. 7, fire crews from North Hampton and mutual aid partners have been on scene in a wooded area by North Hampton School, battling and containing a brush fire that originally spanned about 5.4 acres, mostly using manual labor. 

Crews have successfully contained the active hot spots within 1-2 acres and have now officially shifted to watch-and-monitor status, which includes monitoring the few remaining hot spots and digging up deep root systems. 

“We are pleased to report that we have shifted to the tail end of this incident and are currently on watch-and-monitor status,” said Chief MacGlashing. “While we will be checking on hot spots daily to ensure we continue to contain them, this phase requires significantly less time and resources from crews.”

Mutual aid response included crews from about 45 agencies, including North Hampton Police and Public Works, the state Forest and Lands Department, Rockingham County Dispatch, the Seacoast Chief Fire Officers Mutual Aid District, and the Fire Departments of Rye, Hampton, Portsmouth, Greenland, Stratham, Exeter, Hampton Falls, Newington, Newfields, Newcastle, Kingston, South Hampton, York, Newmarket, Salisbury, Seabrook, Kensington, Hampstead, Brentwood, East Kingston, Shipyard, Durham, Pease, Amesbury, Eliot, Newburyport, Epping, Danville, Raymond, Sandown, South Berwick, Rollinsford, Kittery, Dover, Newbury, Newton, the Souhegan Task Force, Mason, Deering, Litchfield, and Mount Vernon.

North Hampton Fire and Rescue would also like to recognize and thank the North Hampton School District for their support during the incident.

“Fighting this fire required extraordinary efforts from crews, who continuously rose to the challenge and worked through extreme heat and wind,” said Chief MacGlashing. “This was an absolute team effort that required a significant mutual aid response, and we could not be more thankful for their assistance. While working from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., our mutual aid partners allowed us to operate efficiently while protecting the health and safety of responders, providing support and resources so that firefighters could conserve energy in brutal heat conditions.”

Crews will remain on scene for a few hours each morning to continue to monitor hot spots for the next few days.

North Hampton Fire and Rescue thanks residents for their cooperation in avoiding the area to allow for operations to be conducted safely, and ask that they continue to avoid the area if possible while hot spots remain active. 

The cause of the fire remains under investigation by the North Hampton Fire Department with assistance from the State Forest and Lands Department.