As part of the FY27 Capital Improvement Plan, the Town Manager is recommending $7,500,000 be allocated for the construction of a new fire station on Berry Street.  Preliminary plans have been completed and final design is in progress with funding that was approved at the 2024 Town Meeting. 

Plans for the renovation of Fire Station 2 located on Johnson Street are currently being drafted.  Much of this renovation will be funded with remaining ARPA funds and donations provided by Merrimack College.  

FAQs for Fire Station 3

Why do we need a third fire station?

The Town of North Andover is geographically over 27 square miles.  The town built Station 2 in the Old Center in 1970 and since then the population has roughly doubled, mostly “out country”.  This results in a very long response time and a strain on our ability to provide the level of service the town has come to expect from the NAFD.

Why this location? 

The Route 114 corridor is one of our busiest sections of town for emergency calls.  Fire leadership, Town officials, and consultants began a search for suitable locations in this area where we could locate a station.  With the goal of being fiscally responsible to North Andover taxpayers, the site search was limited to Town owned property that would satisfy the Fire Department's needs.  The Berry Street site reduces response times to the busy area as well as strategically places assets closer to the area of town that is not protected by a fire hydrant system.

Why are we proposing station 3 instead of the original plan to renovate station 2?

Originally, Facilities Master Plan II called for needed renovation and expansion of NAFD Station 2 (Johnson and Salem Streets).  The study designs planned for an additional apparatus bay (garage) as well as needed upgrades to the living quarters that had been essentially the same since 1970.  An internal needs assessment was completed and the following shortcomings were identified:

• Insufficient garage space for existing vehicles (spare ambulance, command vehicles, brush truck, rescue boat)

• Increased traffic volume in the already congested Old Center

• No improvement in long response times to emergencies

• No room for future growth of the Department 

The current plan of building a Station 3 (with the same budgeted costs) would address all of these items and would better position the Department to meet the changing needs of the town.

What is the plan for the lost parking lot on Berry Street?

The North Andover Fields committee submitted a request for funds to the Community Preservation Committee to address relocation of the parking lot which would create a more suitable parking area allowing the field to be used for games and not just practices.

Is this going to require a tax override?

No, the planned Station 3 budget is not planned to exceed the funds currently allocated for the original Station 2 renovation/rebuild.

What about the deficiencies identified with the current Station 2?

As part of the Department’s long range planning and working with the Saccoccio and Associates Architects, a phased approach to renovations of the current Station 2 have been designed.  Working with the North Andover Facilities Department, much of this work will be completed with donated funds from Merrimack College and ARPA funding.

Is this new station going to increase the need for additional staff?

Initial staffing for the three stations will be handled with the current complement of Fire Fighting personnel.   The plan will provide strategic space in all three buildings to meet the increasing demands of providing emergency services such as additional ambulance coverage and training needs in the future.

What percentage of calls does the Fire Department receive along the 114 corridor?

The percentage of calls on Turnpike Street for the last 3 years was as follows:

2023- 12.7%

2024- 13.6%

2025- 15.7%

These percentages do not include the streets and complexes off Turnpike Street that would be covered by the proposed Berry Street station. 

How will the new fire station affect traffic in and out of Berry Street at Route 114?

With respect to increased traffic, an anticipated shift change of five crew members would only add ten more personal cars per day, almost exclusively coming from Turnpike Street.  It is expected that emergency vehicles will respond to five to ten calls a shift from this station.  

How will Fire Department traffic impact the Berry Street neighborhood?

Much of Berry Street is a narrow country road.  All planned responses will be turning left out of the proposed station towards Turnpike Street with limited exceptions.  This accomplished two primary goals, to limit large vehicle traffic on this tight section of road and to direct vehicle noise towards the State highway away from Berry Street residences.  

Will there be a separate entrance for Fire Trucks off Turnpike Street?

The plan calls for fire department vehicles to pull out onto Berry Street away from the neighboring homes and travel the short distance to Turnpike Street.  

Will there be a traffic light installed at the intersection of Route 114?

At this time there is no plan to add a light.  Any additions of traffic control devices would require approval from Mass DOT as this is a State highway.

Will this affect the access to the playing field, hiking trail, and parking lot?

Working with the NADPW and representatives from the Fields Committee and the Community Preservation Commission, a more advantageous parking location was identified behind the field.  The best access is being determined.  There will be minimal interruption of the walking trail as it will travel through the Fire Department property.  

Where other locations at the end of Route 114 or Sharpners Pond Road consider as alternate sites?

Being fiscally responsible, the building committee considered town own parcels in the areas.  Multiple sites were investigated, but space considerations, required site work, and environmental constraints, along with residential impact made the Berry Street location the best available option.

In the maps for response time - can you share the volume of calls in each of the areas 

The following "heat map" shows our plotted density of calls for 2023-2025 (10,800 emergency responses).  The red circles indicate the highest call volume.  Not surprisingly, assisted living facilities, nursing homes, and the college are notably "hot".  This illustrates the call volume along the Rt 114 corridor.

Can you highlight response time recommendations vs current state?

Current state for response times for the same plotted calls are shown on the left below.  The recommendation is to meet the NFPA standard of 4 minutes or less (green).  The map on the right shows the computer modeled response times for the same, which are much closer to the desired response times for more of the community.  It should be noted that this is better than initially reported as more modeling of possible vehicle positioning and response plans had a positive impact.

What additional staff might be reasonably anticipated?

The current request before the 2026 town meeting does not ask for additional staffing.  Our plan is to reposition our existing assets to better serve the immediate needs.  In 1999, our EMS call volume approached 2200/year, and the voters supported adding a second ambulance.  In 2025, we answered close to 4800 calls for EMS service.  Our current infrastructure doesn't allow for staffing a third ambulance, but the proposed Station 3 would allow the community to at least have the discussion in the future.  It provides opportunity for growth as the needs of the community change.

In the public presentations, it was mentioned that there are areas that lack hydrants.  Do you have a map/overlay map where hydrants are lacking?

Below is the GIS map of the "non-hydrant" areas of town.  Some improvements have been made since this was generated.  It shows areas such as the airport, Barkers and Farnum farms, Weir Hill, Harold Parker and Boxford State Forests.  The greatest concentration of streets without hydrants is in the South-Southeast section of town.  Although our Standard Operating Guidelines immediately request mutual aid tenders (trucks with a greater water carrying capacity up to 3000 gallons) for these areas, a quick response and an early fire attack is critical to successfully fighting fires with limited water.  Our Engines carry 750 gallons of water each.  The Berry Street location would be strategically advantageous in these areas.

Would Fire Station 2 (by the Youth Center) become more of an EMS hub?

The current plan is to run an engine out of Station 1 and Station 3.  We would run the ladder truck out of Station 2.  We are trying to model the best locations for the two ambulances to best fit our call volume.  We will be doing post construction analysis of call volume and responses and adjust this as needed.

If we get a third ambulance in the future, we would run one out of each station.  It should be noted that our engines and ladder truck are all licensed by the State of Massachusetts as non-transporting ambulances.  We carry all the equipment and medications required by traditional ambulances and are inspected by the state ambulance inspectors for OEMS.  Our trained EMTs arrive on scene with the tools to start caring for patients if our other ambulances are en route or delayed.  These trucks also respond with the front-line ambulances for high acuity calls to assist with patient care.