Master Plan Nashua Fire Rescue, NH
Section Ill. Evaluation of Fire Department Current Conditions
The Evaluation of Current Conditions provides a summary of agency composition, configuration, and services
provided by Nashua Fire Rescue. ESCI analyzed data provided by the administrative and management staff
of Nashua Fire Rescue. In addition, ESCI combined interviews with line personnel, supervisory and
administrative staff, elected/appointed officials, and allied governmental agencies with information
collected during ESCI’s fieldwork to develop the following overview.
The purpose of this section is two-fold. First, it verifies the accuracy of baseline information along with ESCI’s
understanding of Nashua Fire Rescue’s composition and operations. This section provides the foundation
from which ESCI developed the Master Plan. Secondly, the overview serves as a reference for the reader,
who may not be fully familiar with the details of Nashua Fire Rescue’s operations.
The following evaluation and analysis of data and other information is based primarily on the internal data
provided by Nashua Fire Rescue, the city’s demographic information, and other external resources. The
Current Conditions section compares the Department and its operations to industry best practices, National
Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standards, Commission on Fire Accreditation International (CFAI) self-
assessment criteria, health and safety requirements, national mandates relative to emergency services, and
generally accepted best practices within the emergency services community.
INTERNAL CUSTOMER ASSESSMENT
ESCI solicited input from the members of Nashua Fire Rescue using a 20-question online survey. The survey
was open for participation from August 14 through September 4, 2020. Nashua Fire Rescue shared the
survey link with its firefighters and encouraged their participation. In addition to the online survey, ESCI
solicited input from members of Nashua Fire Rescue through a series of in-person meetings with on-duty
crews as well as union leadership. The feedback from the in-person sessions was entirely consistent with the
results of the survey. The following summarizes the results of the online internal survey.
Ninety-four members of Nashua Fire Rescue completed this survey, which is 54% of the Department’s 172
members. This survey can be considered to be representative of the majority of Nashua Firefighters. The
number of years of service of the members that participated in the survey was well-distributed: 19% of the
members had 20 or more years of service, 40% had between 10 and 20 years of service, 21% had between
six and 10 years of service, and 19% had less than 5 years of service.
ESC) Emergency Services oO
Consulting International 5
