PELHAM — Dan Newman is ready to jump out of his comfort zone as the town’s new fire chief.
Newman started Monday after the department was led by an interim chief for six months following former Chief James Midgley’s retirement in 2023.
Town Administrator Joe Roark said 20 candidates applied for the position. Municipal Resources Inc. looked at seven candidates before the field was narrowed to three who were interviewed by the town.
“The interim chief (Anthony Stowers) did a great job over the last six months so we could conduct a thorough hiring process,” Roark said.
“But there are big shoes to fill,” Roark added. Midgley had been with the department since 2001 and its chief since 2009.
Newman will earn $122,500 annually, Roark said.
“‘We are very excited to get him going and he has an excellent department to work with,” Roark said.
Newman, 53, comes to Pelham from the Merrimack Fire Department where he worked his way up the ranks over the last 19 years. He started as a volunteer, on-call firefighter before becoming a paramedic and assistant chief of operations.
“Chief Newman’s leadership and dedication to public service make him a perfect fit for our community,” the town said in its official announcement.
Becoming chief has been a humbling experience, Newman said.
“I’m excited about being uncomfortable,” he said. “It’s the challenge of stepping out of a comfort zone and being a part of another team. It sends you back to when you first started in the fire service.”
Newman is originally from Massachusetts but grew up overseas. He lives in New Hampshire and enjoys spending time with his wife and five sons.
In the U.S. Army, he was stationed in Louisiana before settling in New Hampshire. He served 21 years in the military as an active duty member, in the Reserve and the National Guard.
His military experience and leadership in that capacity helped drive the town’s decision to appoint Newman, Roark said.
In the Army, Newman was deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. He was a platoon leader in Iraq and a company commander in Afghanistan, both during times of combat. Not many people receive that type of leadership during their time in the service, Newman added.
“It shaped me,” he said.
“Being that soldier and having done your leadership time in an austere condition, and not in good neighborhoods, you learn a lot and take those lessons with you.”
The fire service was something that crossed Newman’s mind but started taking shape once he moved to New Hampshire with his family.
“I wanted to do something for my community,” he said. “I was looking for a career that gave me the same purpose that I had in the military.”
Newman’s knowledge of New Hampshire fire departments was appealing to the Board of Selectmen, Roark said.
There’s a unique culture in New Hampshire with a community feeling from surrounding mutual aid partners, the new chief explained.
He said this area is also about that “Yankee ingenuity” tied to history but looking forward at the same time with departments and other chiefs working together to best serve each other.
“It’s no secret we rely on each other,” Newman said. “New Hampshire is different than a lot of the country.”
Since he has only worked with one other department, Newman said he had to get out of his comfort zone and trust his gut to not pass on the opportunity to apply for the position.
Newman knew some members of Pelham Fire through training classes. He said he was attracted to how the department served the community and how its values aligned with his own.
Above all else, the firefighters with the department sold him on the possible job.
While he’s only been on the job for a few days, Newman said his goals in the short term are to support the department’s high standards of serving the community in what has been laid out by his predecessors.
“It’s about figuring out where I fit in that piece of the pie,” Newman said.