Salem Fire Department manages Haunted Happenings with real-time visibility
Salem Fire Department uses First Due to manage Haunted Happenings with real-time unit tracking, dynamic event mapping, and citywide resource visibility.
"It gives us better awareness to see where companies are. We can send the closest company. We can redirect much quicker than we have been able to in the past."
Operational Impact & Key Outcomes
Customize units for Haunted Happenings
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Adapt maps as closures change
Preserve citywide response coverage
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The Story
Background
Salem, Massachusetts is an eight-square-mile city with about 45,000 residents on a normal day. During Haunted Happenings, the city can see about 96,000 visitors on Halloween night and roughly 1–1.5 million visitors across the season, creating a sustained operational challenge for fire and dispatch teams.
Challenge
Heavy pedestrian traffic, road closures, full parking garages, hard barriers, and limited access can make moving apparatus through downtown difficult. On Halloween night, Salem effectively operates in two modes: dedicated event resources and command downtown while remaining companies preserve service to the rest of the city.
Solution
Salem uses First Due as both a preplan system and a live event-management platform. Dispatch and command can see companies and neighboring First Due agencies on the map, add road closures as conditions change, and use event-specific layers. The platform is flexible enough that Salem worked with First Due to create custom pumpkin icons for Haunted Happenings, allowing each med cart to appear as a named pumpkin on the map. First Due also works alongside Salem’s NextGen CAD integration to keep operational information moving into the platform.
Results
With a shared view of units, closures, sectors, and mutual-aid resources, dispatch can identify the closest company and redirect resources faster while event staff manage downtown activity and city companies remain available for calls elsewhere. Salem is also rolling out First Due’s command board for deeper sector, division, and personnel accountability during future events.
About
Salem Fire Department
Quick facts
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Manage complex events with a shared operational picture.
First Due helps fire and dispatch teams track units, map closures, organize event layers, and maintain visibility across the rest of the response system as conditions change.
In their own words:
- How does Salem organize fire operations on Halloween night?
- From about 4 p.m., dedicated event staff and command operate downtown while remaining city resources stay positioned outside the event area to maintain coverage.
- How does First Due help Salem track event resources?
- Dispatch uses the map to see companies and med carts in real time. Custom pumpkin icons identify individual med carts so command can see where each unit is operating.
- How does Salem manage changing road closures?
- Crews use event-specific map layers and can duplicate road-closure markers as conditions change, giving users a shared view of access restrictions.
- How does First Due support mutual aid and incident management?
- Neighboring agencies on the First Due network are visible on the map, improving awareness of incoming apparatus and supporting resource decisions during incidents.
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