Dover Fire Department

Dover Fire & EMS is the call fire department for the Town of Dover, a Norfolk County community of about 6,200 residents covering 15.3 square miles along the Charles River southwest of Boston. The department is staffed fully by paid-on-call firefighters and EMTs — most of them Dover residents or people who work for the town — and operates from the Protective Agencies Building at 1 Walpole Street.

Beyond structural firefighting, the department runs the town's Basic Life Support ambulance, with advanced life support coverage provided by mutual-aid paramedics from neighboring departments. It also handles fire prevention inspections and permits, hazardous materials response, and emergency management planning. In 2025 the department logged 439 incidents — house alarms and vehicle accidents leading the list — and its ambulance treated 323 patients, most transported to Beth Israel Deaconess in Needham or Newton-Wellesley Hospital.

A three-member Board of Fire Engineers appoints the department's officers and oversees its finances. In September 2025 the town swore in Gerard Smith as its first full-time fire chief, converting the position from part-time. Recent town meetings have funded a new radio system, portable radios, and the replacement of Engine 3, the department's tanker pumper — tankers matter in Dover, where the town center lacks usable hydrants and firefighting water must be trucked in.

Dover Fire & EMS accepts applications for call firefighter and part-time EMS (EMT-Basic) positions on a continual rolling basis, with hiring timing driven by Massachusetts Fire Academy class availability and EMS scheduling needs. No prior fire certification is required to apply: candidates clear a background check, medical and drug screen, and (for fire candidates) the Massachusetts Firefighters Physical Abilities Test, then train after appointment. Officer ranks are appointed annually by the Board of Fire Engineers and filled from within the department.