Founded independently of the University of Rhode Island in 1923, the Kingston Fire District provides comprehensive fire and rescue services inside of and around the URI community and the historic village of Kingston. The all-volunteer department depends on its constituents to join and train to become active firefighters. The District also operates a resdiency program within their facility located on Bills Rd, nestled into the University itself.
This unique department mans an engine company, a ladder company, a heavy rescue company and a decontamination team.
At the heart of South Kingstown's volunteer fire service is the Union Fire District Administration Building. The sprawling complex on Asa Pond Road houses the offices of the Union Fire District Chief and deputy Chiefs, meeting and classrooms used by firefighters and the UFD Board of Wardens, conference rooms, the office of the UFD clerk and the town's tax assessor and tax collector offices.
The ground floor of the building houses a gym and a storage area. Behind the administration building is the district's training facility, the largest permanent training facility of its kind in Rhode Island. Also on the campus is the UFD maintenance garage.
By land and by sea, the Middletown Fire Department is equipped to put out any fire. What started as a six-man department with a 300-gallon pumper in 1922 today stands at 239 Wyatt Road with a team of 32 full-time firefighters standing by at the ready with an impressive fleet of firefighting and rescue trucks and boats, including three pumpers, one ladder, two rescue vehicles, one special hazards vehicle, one tanker, one brush truck, one rescue boat, two command vehicles and one utility vehicle. In 1922, eight fires were fought. Today, the Fire Department's main lobby boasts a town map covered with hundreds of color-coded pins of every fire fought and major emergency response in the department's history. When they're not protecting Middletown lives and property, the Fire Chief and firefighters are often providing a number of public services to the community, such as fire prevention education visits to schools, fire extinguisher training and site-specific safety training to local businesses, smoke detector and carbon monoxide inspections for the home, some detector installation and battery changes for the disabled, blood pressure screening during normal fire station business hours, and conducting scheduled fire department tours.
With three fire stations, 64 professional firefighters and a whole lot of know-how, the North Kingstown Fire Department makes protecting life and property its highest priority. The department has been serving the community since 1917, and became a professional department shortly after the Hurricane of 1938. Headed by Chief Patrick Campion, the department is headquartered at 8150 Post Road next to the police department in the newly-renovated facility. The department's other two stations are located at 1865 Boston Neck Rd. and 6445 Post Rd.
The Portsmouth Water and Fire District is a quasi-municipal, governmental agency created in 1952 by act of the Rhode Island General Assembly. The District was created to obtain and maintain for the District a supply of water for the extinguishing of fire, and for distribution to the inhabitants of the district, for domestic use and for other purposes. Essentially, the boundaries of the District's service area include all of Portsmouth on Aquidneck Island with the exception of the area in the southwest corner of town, including Redwood Farms, Bay View Apartments and Condominiums, Raytheon, Melville Navy Housing and the Navy Base, all of which is serviced by Newport Water.
The District is governed by a seven-member Administrative Board, which is elected by the registered voters within the District. The District holds an annual election of officers on the second Wednesday in June. The Board meets on the third Tuesday of every month at 7 p.m. at the district's main office.
Although the Portsmouth Water and Fire District is not affiliated legally or administratively with the Town of Portsmouth government, the District and Town work cooperatively to best serve their common constituents.