Kevin Shea
nj.com
(TNS)

In 2015, a house in Ewing burned out of control as volunteer firefighters struggled mightily to get water on the fire during the critical initial moments of such a blaze.

Under duress and mounting frustration, the chief on the scene resorted to calling for help from the career Trenton Fire Department.

And it was caught on a cellphone, footage of which made the rounds among residents, firefighters – and township officials.

Nearly a decade later, such a fire would likely look different, as Ewing has grown from nine career firefighters that worked day shifts to a 31-member department that operates a crew 24 hours a day.

And town officials told NJ Advance Media they continue to grow and would like to one day staff the firehouse at Trenton-Mercer Airport, the county-owned airport which is inside Ewing’s borders.

Behind the growth is the mayor, Bert Steinmann, who was elected in 2010.

During a recent meeting with the mayor, his business administrator, Aaron T. Watson, and Fire Director Marc Strauss, they described the fire landscape in town.

While the 2015 fire, on Stowman Avenue, was a turning point, the overall issue is familiar in many areas of New Jersey – the decades long, gradual decline in volunteerism in firefighting.

Signs in front of volunteer firehouse always seem to beg for members to join. But once they do, they must undergo not only initial training, but regular and annual drills and refresher courses to remain active.

“They were almost impossible to keep up with,” Steinmann said of the training.

Ewing was long served by three volunteer fire companies in town, Prospect Heights, Pennington Road and West Trenton, stations 31, 32 and 33, respectively. Each had their own firehouse.

The town, like many others, did employ career firefighters starting in the late 1970s, but it was only one at each station, and they were referred to as “paid drivers,” whose job was to swiftly get the fire engine to the scene and meet up with volunteers.

By 2015, Ewing had grown to nine career firefighters, three at each station, to augment the volunteers. But the paid crews stopped working at 4 p.m. each day. The Stowman fire that year was at 5:30 p.m.

By 2016 and 2017, the town knew they had to act, after trying other moves, like an inventive program that paid volunteers $5 per call.

It didn’t lead to a boon of new firefighters.

“We had to change the culture of how we fight the fires,” Steinmann said.

That meant hiring them as full-time, career professionals.

The issue came down to a simple fact, Steinmann said. “If there’s a fire, a firefighter needs to show up.”

The town eventually took over the Pennington Road firehouse after officially declaring the company as an ineffective firefighting force via township council ordinance, passed in 2019.

The town hired Strauss that year too. He is a former police officer in Hunterdon County and served as Union Township’s public safety director prior to Ewing. He also was a volunteer fire chief in Hunterdon.

The town then purchased the building from the volunteer company in 2022 for $1.5 million. They renovated the building, adding new living

Glenn Epps
The Express-Times
(TNS)

The Frelinghuysen Volunteer Fire Co. successfully knocked down its first fire in nearly 40 years on Sept. 30.

When the call came in at 2:42 a.m. to respond to a structure fire, the township’s freshly appointed seven-person squadron wasted no time getting geared up, driving to the scene and handling the job they were trained to do, Fire Chief Angel Ortiz said.

“I’m like a proud papa,” he said. “I went by to see the victims the day after the fire and they just hugged me and called us heroes. I can’t begin to explain how much that means.”

Station 84 was established in 2022, but officially opened in March 2024 once renovations on the fire house were completed. Residents once believed they’d never see a fire department in Frelinghuysen, Mayor Keith Ramos said.

“This was never in the plan,” he said, “it’s a Godsend.”

In the past 22 years, only three fires have been recorded in Frelinghuysen Township, including the basement fire reported last month. Station 84 is a monumental milestone for the community, especially at a time when more towns are seeing fire departments close due to lack of participation, Ramos said. He approached 152 fire departments in the region to collect donations for the project, he said.

Breathing apparatuses and fire trucks were donated by Harrison Township, Parsippany donated gear, Bloomfield donated gloves, Toms River donated Scott SCBA Air Packs, Elmwood Park Borough donated a ladder truck. Other items, including the generator and hoses, were all donated or paid using American Rescue Plan Act funding ($200,000), capital funds ($900,000) and microgrants.

The project, which included renovating the former Public Works Works department to be used as a fire station, was developed at no cost to residents, Ramos said. It should cost the township less than $45,000 to run the program moving forward, he said.

The 2,200-person township used to pay $105,000 per year to be covered by its neighboring municipalities. The cost of the emergency services were among the township’s most expensive line items in its annual budget, Ramos said.

“To me, it was almost biblical,” Ramos said. “Nobody knew there would be a pandemic and we would get the ARPA money. It all really just fell into place.”

Each of Station 84′s 15 volunteers lives within walking distance of the converted fire station. Here’s a list of the station’s founding members: Fire Chief Angel Ortiz, Jim K. Burns, Jim P. Burns, Frankie Giordano, Robert “Doc” Halsberstadt, Thomas Heaton, Jose Jaime, Todd McPeek, Benny Perez, Dave Possehl, Christian Rodriguez, Jhonny Lopez Sosa, Christian Winfield, James Winfield, Scott Winfield.

Glenn Epps can be reached at gepps@lehighvalleylive.com or glenn_epps_on X (formerly known as Twitter.com), Facebook and Threads.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe to lehighvalleylive.com today.

©2024 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit lehighvalleylive.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Glenn Epps
The Express-Times
(TNS)

The Frelinghuysen Volunteer Fire Co. successfully knocked down its first fire in nearly 40 years on Sept. 30.

When the call came in at 2:42 a.m. to respond to a structure fire, the township’s freshly appointed seven-person squadron wasted no time getting geared up, driving to the scene and handling the job they were trained to do, Fire Chief Angel Ortiz said.

“I’m like a proud papa,” he said. “I went by to see the victims the day after the fire and they just hugged me and called us heroes. I can’t begin to explain how much that means.”

Station 84 was established in 2022, but officially opened in March 2024 once renovations on the fire house were completed. Residents once believed they’d never see a fire department in Frelinghuysen, Mayor Keith Ramos said.

“This was never in the plan,” he said, “it’s a Godsend.”

In the past 22 years, only three fires have been recorded in Frelinghuysen Township, including the basement fire reported last month. Station 84 is a monumental milestone for the community, especially at a time when more towns are seeing fire departments close due to lack of participation, Ramos said. He approached 152 fire departments in the region to collect donations for the project, he said.

Breathing apparatuses and fire trucks were donated by Harrison Township, Parsippany donated gear, Bloomfield donated gloves, Toms River donated Scott SCBA Air Packs, Elmwood Park Borough donated a ladder truck. Other items, including the generator and hoses, were all donated or paid using American Rescue Plan Act funding ($200,000), capital funds ($900,000) and microgrants.

The project, which included renovating the former Public Works Works department to be used as a fire station, was developed at no cost to residents, Ramos said. It should cost the township less than $45,000 to run the program moving forward, he said.

The 2,200-person township used to pay $105,000 per year to be covered by its neighboring municipalities. The cost of the emergency services were among the township’s most expensive line items in its annual budget, Ramos said.

“To me, it was almost biblical,” Ramos said. “Nobody knew there would be a pandemic and we would get the ARPA money. It all really just fell into place.”

Each of Station 84′s 15 volunteers lives within walking distance of the converted fire station. Here’s a list of the station’s founding members: Fire Chief Angel Ortiz, Jim K. Burns, Jim P. Burns, Frankie Giordano, Robert “Doc” Halsberstadt, Thomas Heaton, Jose Jaime, Todd McPeek, Benny Perez, Dave Possehl, Christian Rodriguez, Jhonny Lopez Sosa, Christian Winfield, James Winfield, Scott Winfield.

Glenn Epps can be reached at gepps@lehighvalleylive.com or glenn_epps_on X (formerly known as Twitter.com), Facebook and Threads.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe to lehighvalleylive.com today.

©2024 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit lehighvalleylive.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

The Chicago Fire Department’s Englewood station currently has no fire truck to work with its pumper amid a vehicle shortage, the firefighters union said, abc7chicago.com reported.

“Truck 20, one of the busiest truck companies in Chicago, quartered at 7101 S. Parnell (with Engine 54), is out of service and not available to serve the Englewood community due to the fact that the city of Chicago does not have a spare truck in their fleet to keep them in service,” Chicago Fire Department Firefighters Union – Local 2 said Sunday, Oct. 6, in a Facebook post.

A large lot filled with city vehicles (ambulances, trucks, and fire apparatus) in need of repair takes up more than a city block on the South Side, the report said.

The Chicago Fire Department and Mayor Brandon Johnson’s office have not yet responded to a request for comment, according to the report.

Union officials said the city is in violation of its contract by failing to have the minimum number of trucks in service, and they believe it is creating a dangerous situation for citizens and firefighters, the report said.

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