It would be slightly out of your way, but Lowell and Lawrence, MA are two old mill city departments just off I495 in the Merrimack Valley. Both are 25 minutes Northwest of Boston. Lowell has 8 active firehouses, 2 stations still used for fire prevention and training and a few closed firehouses used for other purposes like social clubs, apartments, office space.
Lawrence has four active stations and few additional closed ones still standing. Quite a few of the houses date back 100 years or more in both cities. Always a chance you catch a job while you are in the area, especially Lawrence. Nashua and Manchester NH are also good stops. Again just a little out of your way, but not more than an hours drive from where you are going to be.
Two of the larger communities on the route you are taking will be Portsmouth and Portland as Hank mentioned. Newburyport is also a nice town to stop in, I know they have a paid dept. The only issue with some of the smaller towns on the North shore of Massachusetts is that not all the stations will be manned 24/7. I would say most along the route will have some type of staffing during the day time Monday through Friday and some type of on call coverage other times. Good rule of thumb in New England is that if the population of a community is around 25k (or more) they have some kind of paid department on 24/7, anything under that can be a mix of on call and volunteer staffing.
Depending on when you will be around you could stop by my firehouse. My next two 24s are Tuesday the 8th and Saturday the 12th.
Lawrence has four active stations and few additional closed ones still standing. Quite a few of the houses date back 100 years or more in both cities. Always a chance you catch a job while you are in the area, especially Lawrence. Nashua and Manchester NH are also good stops. Again just a little out of your way, but not more than an hours drive from where you are going to be.
Two of the larger communities on the route you are taking will be Portsmouth and Portland as Hank mentioned. Newburyport is also a nice town to stop in, I know they have a paid dept. The only issue with some of the smaller towns on the North shore of Massachusetts is that not all the stations will be manned 24/7. I would say most along the route will have some type of staffing during the day time Monday through Friday and some type of on call coverage other times. Good rule of thumb in New England is that if the population of a community is around 25k (or more) they have some kind of paid department on 24/7, anything under that can be a mix of on call and volunteer staffing.
Depending on when you will be around you could stop by my firehouse. My next two 24s are Tuesday the 8th and Saturday the 12th.
Jay Strunk
Lowell Fire Dept.
Captain: Engine Co. 6
Author: Images of America: Lowell Firefighting
Lowell Fire Dept.
Captain: Engine Co. 6
Author: Images of America: Lowell Firefighting
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