One of 17 departments in the Addison County system
The station
79 West St
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The department gives its address as 62 Firehouse Drive; the state's E911 file lists 79 West St. Engine 1, a 2023 pumper-tanker (1,500 gpm, 1,000 gallons), is first due; Engine 2, a 2007 Spartan pumper-tanker (2,000 gpm, 3,000 gallons), brings water and answers mutual aid calls; plus a 2001 Ford heavy rescue for crashes and technical rescue. Source
Bristol's firefighters are paid on call: everyone holds a full-time job elsewhere, carries a pager and responds when they can. The department is part of the Addison County Fire Mutual Aid System of 17 departments.
2024
133 incidents. Gifts from a local business, a nonprofit and memorial donations buy a turnout-gear dryer, cutting drying time from about 36 hours to 4.
133 calls that year
2025
127 incidents, 1,020 hours of training. Peter Bouvier marks 40 years of service, John "Peeker" Heffernan 35, and Chief Brett LaRose and Matthew Lathrop 30 each.
127 calls that year
Calls
Bristol's call volume has held between about 110 and 150 a year. In 2024 the hours behind those calls came to 1,698, plus about 1,900 hours of training, inspections and station upkeep.
Calls for service by year
1082020
1322021
1462022
1252023
1332024
1272025
Calendar years, from the fire chief's report in each year's town report.
Bristol in Addison County. Every fire station in the county is marked —
1 here, 22 in neighbouring towns, which is
who turns out on a mutual aid call.
Boundaries and water from VCGI; fire district lines are not town lines, and
village districts and contracted coverage cross them. A town line runs out into
the lake, so the shoreline here is the water drawn over the boundary, not the
boundary itself.
Working here
Paid on call at the state minimum wage for calls, training, inspections and station duties. The average firefighter answers about 30% of calls.
18 or over, a high school diploma or GED, and a Vermont driver's licence
Live within 10 minutes of the station
About 230 hours of training for Firefighter 1, within two years
Answer at least 15% of calls a year
Cadets aged 15 to 18 train with the department, with a parent's consent
In an emergency dial 911. These are business lines.
Burning
Vermont requires a Permit to Kindle Fire from the town’s Forest Fire Warden for anything larger than a campfire — except where snow covers the ground at the burn site, or the fire is at least 200 feet from anything that will carry flame. Wardens can suspend burning outright when fire danger is high. Who to ask locally is recorded department by department; where it is blank below, the fire department itself is the place to start.
For residents
Burn permitsFree, same-day only, issued after 8 a.m. once the morning fire danger rating is out. Natural wood only.
Knox Box programmeA key box keyed to the department's master key, so crews can get in without forcing doors.
Car seat checksFree child safety seat inspections by a certified technician.
Cadet programmeFor 15- to 18-year-olds interested in the fire service.
Read in October 2026. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.
Not recorded yet
Nothing is written up here for burn permits, budget.
Not because it does not exist — because nobody has typed it in. If you know this
department, tell us and it goes on the record with its
source named.