Kennebunkport Fire Department

The Kennebunkport Fire Department (KPFD) has protected the town's four distinct villages — Cape Porpoise, Goose Rocks Beach, Port Village, and the Wildes District — for well over a century, tracing its roots to independent volunteer engine and hose companies documented as far back as the mid-1800s. Today the department is staffed primarily by a volunteer 'call force': members from all walks of life who are paid only for the emergency responses and training they attend, rather than drawing a full-time salary.

KPFD runs an apparatus fleet of 11 pieces — four engines, a ladder truck, four brush trucks, a rescue squad, a 3,500-gallon tanker, and two Zodiac inflatable boats for water rescue — much of it acquired through donations and trusts rather than tax dollars. Roughly 40 members hold Firefighter I & II certification, and the department maintains capability in HazMat/WMD response, vehicle extrication, technical rescue, and water rescue, responding to structure fires, motor vehicle crashes, hazardous materials incidents, and missing-person searches, with mutual aid ties to Arundel, Biddeford, Kennebunk, and Wells.

In 2026 the town began building out paid, non-volunteer positions alongside the call force, posting a full-time Firefighter/Community Risk Reduction Specialist role and a part-time Training Coordinator position — a hybrid model pairing career staff for daytime coverage, fire prevention, and training with the traditional volunteer response force for emergencies.

Kennebunkport recruits both volunteer 'call force' members, who respond to emergencies and are paid only for calls and training attended, and — as of mid-2026 — a small number of paid career and part-time positions handling daytime fire prevention, training coordination, and response. Prospective volunteers are asked to contact the fire department business office directly; career and part-time openings are posted and filled through the Town's Human Resources office.