Dover Fire and Rescue seeks donations for annual Fire Safety Festival

posted on 4/15/2026

Dover Fire and Rescue is seeking community donations to support its annual Children’s Fire Safety Festival, a long-running program that teaches local students essential fire and life safety skills.

Produced in partnership with the Dover Firefighters Charitable Association, the festival is presented each year to approximately 2,000 students in kindergarten through fourth grade across Dover’s public and private schools.

The program, written and performed by Dover firefighters and staff, focuses on key safety messages such as “stop, drop and roll,” identifying two ways out of a home, emergency preparedness, and avoiding matches and lighters.

Organizers say the festival plays an important role in keeping fire-related injuries and home accidents low in the community by reinforcing these lessons at an early age.

The annual production costs between $12,000 and $15,000 and is funded entirely through donations, with no impact on taxpayers. Firefighters and staff also volunteer hundreds of hours to design, build and perform the show.

Each participating student receives a T-shirt, educational materials and access to recordings of the performance, which serve as continued learning tools beyond the event.

Donation levels include:

• Diamond ($1,500 and above): Exclusive donor recognition on the cast gift and a large logo placement at the top of the back of the festival T-shirt.
• Gold ($800 to $1,499): Large logo placement on the back of the T-shirt.
• Silver ($500 to $799): Medium logo placement on the back of the T-shirt.
• Bronze ($100 to $499): Business name listed on the T-shirt.

Donations must be received by July 1 to be included on this year’s T-shirts.

Checks can be made payable to the City of Dover – Fire Safety Festival and mailed to 288 Central Ave., Dover, NH 03820, or dropped off at any Dover fire station. Donors are asked to include “Children’s Fire Safety Festival” in the memo line.

For more information, contact the Dover Fire and Rescue office at 603-516-6150.