The Sugar Hill Fire Department was established in 1948, 14 years before the town became incorporated, as a separate entity from the Lisbon Fire Department. The inciting incident for the founding of a new department was a large schoolhouse fire in July of that year. In fact, this fire was also a large reason why the residents of Sugar Hill wanted to become their own town.

The department’s first station was built out of the ashes of the schoolhouse that burned in 1948. Located on NH Route 117, it had four bays and housed the department’s first apparatus, a donated 1939 Ford farm truck that was outfitted by members of the department as Engine 2. The department also owned a 1952 Chevrolet pumper-tanker with a 150 GPM pump and unknown capacity tank, and a 1954 Dodge forestry unit. In 1962, the department took delivery of an International pumper with 750 GPM pump and 1000 gallon tank. It was given the designation Engine 1.

By the 1970s, the department was ready for change. It switched from a private fire department to a municipal one in 1974, put the 1939 Ford into support status, and outgrew its original quarters. In 1975, a new four-bay station was opened and the existing station was renovated to serve as the Sugar Hill Historical Museum. The following year a 1968 Chevrolet van was purchased to serve as an equipment truck, and the Dodge forestry was replaced with a ten-wheeler tanker with 850 gallon tank on loan from the NH Division of Forests and Lands. In 1977, the department obtained another Jeep for free to use on forestry calls. The following year the department took delivery of an International Harvester/Pierce pumper for Engine 1, with the 1962 International becoming Engine 2.

The late 1970s was marked by increased collaboration with other departments. Prior to 1978, the department was a member of the Twin State Fire Mutual Aid Association, but that year the group took a large step forward in providing dispatching to member communities. This meant the department no longer handled radio transmissions from the fire station.

In 1979, the Sugar Hill and Franconia fire departments were contracted by Easton to provide fire suppression services. In 1981, the department took possession of a chassis the town’s highway department was selling and retrofitted it into a tanker truck. Also in 1981, the town contracted EMS out to the Franconia Life Squad (FLS) and Ross Ambulance; there were 11 medical calls in Sugar Hill that year that FLS responded to.

In 1982 the department refurbished the 1962 International serving as Engine 2. In 1984, the department purchased a GMC Top Kick pumper with Emergency One bodywork and it put into service as Engine 3. It was painted lime green. In 1988, the 1962 International (Engine 2) was involved in an accident after its brakes failed while traveling to a training in Franconia. It was written off as a total loss. A year or two later, the department put into service a new-to-them equipment truck paid for with insurance money and other fundraising efforts.

In 1991, the town of Easton formed its own fire department, which meant Sugar Hill would no longer provide first-line suppression for the town. The department continues to respond on first-alarm assignments to Easton automatically, however. Sometime in the early 1990s, a Chevrolet pickup was put into service as Forestry 1, and in 1994 a 1984 highway truck was converted into the department’s tanker by marrying it with the 1977 tanker’s tank.

In 1997, the 1977 International/Pierce was refurbished, and reassigned in 1998 to Engine 2 when a Freightliner/Dingee pumper was purchased and placed into service as Engine 1.

In the mid-2000s, two apparatus were purchased by the department. The first was a 2004 Ford/Emergency One rescue truck and the second was a 2006 Sterling Acterra/Valley tanker with 500 GPM pump and 2000 gallon tank.

In 2012, the department purchased an International/Emergency One with 1500 GPM pump, 1000 gallon tank, and 20 gallon foam tank for Engine 1. At this time, the Freightliner was redesignated to Engine 3 and the GMC was disposed of. A year later, Ross Ambulance shut down and Calex Ambulance picked up the territory; an ambulance responded out of the Littleton Fire Department station and responded alongside FLS to medicals in Sugar Hill.

In 2018, this agreement came to an end and Golden Cross Ambulance took over the EMS services for Sugar Hill. Also in 2018, another International/Emergency One was purchased with the same specs. This was also assigned to Engine 1, causing the 2012 model to become Engine 3 and the Freightliner to be retired.

In 2021, Golden Cross left the region and Littleton took over EMS transporting for a number of towns in the area, including Sugar Hill. Finally, in 2023 FLS disbanded after membership declined in the 2010s. This left Sugar Hill as the lone first-responder agency while waiting for a Littleton ambulance to arrive on the scene.

Sugar Hill NH Fire Department website

Much of this history relies on town records, fire buff websites, and community memory. If you have photos, documents, or personal recollections related to the Sugar Hill Fire Department—especially from prior to 2000—we’d be grateful to hear from you. Please feel free to email nhfirehistory (at) gmail (dot) com with any information you’d like to share.