New Hampshire gets its first Safe Haven baby box at Manchester Fire Department
By Kendra Broddus
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MANCHESTER, New Hamsphire (WMUR) — In a first for New Hampshire, an electronically monitored Safe Haven baby box has been installed at the Manchester Fire Department.
The box will automatically call 911 when the door is opened.
Inside the box is an orange bag with information about the Safe Haven Law, along with forms the mother can fill out about the baby’s medical history if she chooses to.
Once the door is shut, it locks to make sure no one unauthorized can take the baby.
Inside the box, the temperature is kept between 75 and 80 degrees. There’s also a camera to capture when a baby is placed inside.
A baby can be surrendered at any hospital or at a staffed church, fire department or law enforcement facility, but the box offers a new secure option for a mother looking to surrender their baby without a face-to-face interaction.
“This fire station here has been a safe haven for many, many years, and the baby box hasn’t changed that,” said Manchester Fire Chief Ryan Cashin. “It just allows for the anonymity of the mother and that extra layer of allowing them to safely drop off that baby in a time of need.”
The box was installed a year after Manchester first responders found an infant in Pine Island Pond in March 2025. Manchester police lovingly named her Baby Grace.
In February 2026, Hepay Juma, 26, of Manchester, was arrested in connection with the case and charged with reckless second-degree murder.
“That call is one of the calls that will stick with my members for their entire lives. So, that’s not one that ever goes away,” Cashin said. “It was important to us to do something moving forward. To give an option, to give a chance that this wouldn’t happen again.”
To learn more about New Hampshire’s Safe Haven Law click here.
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