North Smithfield council approves three-year contract with North Smithfield Fire and Rescue

The North Smithfield Town Council on May 20 approved a three-year contract and a companion resolution authorizing the town administrator to execute the agreement with North Smithfield Fire and Rescue Service Inc., covering July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2028.

The contract continues the existing service arrangement and includes a 4% annual increase. The Town Administrator told the council the contract moves the payment schedule to a one-twelfth monthly distribution. “That 4% is slightly less than that what was requested from the fire district, but the administration strongly depends on 4% given the challenges that the fire department's facing both in terms of recruitment and retention of, of workforce,” the Town Administrator said during discussion.

Why it matters: the contract affects staffing, ambulance/rescue availability and the town’s broader review of whether to municipalize fire services. The agreement also contains a termination provision allowing the town to end the contract if it decides to move to a municipal fire department; the administration said it plans a 2025–2026 analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of municipalization.

Council discussion and operational timeline Council members asked about the contract’s minimum staffing level and the department’s current roster. The council was told the contract’s minimum staffing is 29 and that the department is at that staffing level after hires made in January. The North Smithfield Fire and Rescue representative said the recent recruits completed the fire academy two weeks before the meeting, would finish a two-week orientation the coming Friday, and then enter a four-week station-rotation training program expected to finish on the last Friday in June.

That staffing and training timeline, the administration said, should allow the town to restore a rescue unit to seven-day daytime coverage “beginning sometime early July, latest, mid July,” subject to logistics work between the deputy and town administration.

Municipalization review and board response The contract includes a clause enabling termination if the town opts for a municipal fire department. The Town Administrator said the administration intends to work with the fire department in 2025–2026 to “fully analyze the pluses and minuses about going with the municipal fire department.” A representative of North Smithfield Fire and Rescue said the department’s board of directors and membership “would be no opposition, for anything like that,” but noted economic and legacy-cost questions would need detailed analysis.

Formal actions and next steps Councilors moved and seconded approval of the contract and then of a resolution authorizing execution of the contract by the town administrator. Both measures were adopted by roll call; all voting members present voted in favor. The town administrator was authorized to sign the contract on behalf of the town.

The council did not set a date for the municipalization analysis’ completion; the administration identified 2025–2026 as the period for that review.