FOXBORO - Fire Chief Roger Hatfield said he and his family plan to lease a home in Seekonk as of Jan. 1.

Hired last Jan. 13, Hatfield has been commuting a more-than 200-mile-per-day round trip to Wilton, N.H. under an agreement that allows him to use a Foxboro Fire Department vehicle and town fuel.

Hatfield said he and his wife, Sabrina Hatfield, have have been unable to sell their six-acre New Hampshire spread, but will still move to Seekonk.

"One way or the other, this fire chief will be located 16.4 miles from driveway to driveway," Hatfield said.

Hatfield's employment contract requires him to live within 15 miles from the Foxboro public safety building at 8 Chestnut St., and to "establish a permanent local residence" in one of 13 listed communities in the Foxboro area. Seekonk was not listed. Town Manager Andrew Gala said he authorized Hatfield, who was having house-search difficulties, to move to within 24 miles of Foxboro, the distance within which the rank and fire firefighters must live from the station under their separate contract.

Hatfield said he's grateful for the patience town officials and residents have shown as the couple tried to sell their own place in New Hampshire, where Sabrina Hatfield trains and shows German shepherds as a hobby.

In Seekonk, the family will keep 10 German shepherds on a two-acre property at 188 Cross St., which they will lease with an option to buy. He said the family has obtained a kennel license in that town.

Meanwhile, the Hatfields will continue to try to sell or lease out their New Hampshire property, a six-year-old house, on which they reduced the asking price from $440,000 to $340,000, and still received no offers.

"I never in a million years thought I'd have this issue of selling our home," Hatfield said.