Study recommends paid firefighters in Rumson
Volunteers who live out of town lead to longer p.m. response times
BY LAYLI WHYTE
Staff Writer

CHRIS KELLY staff Rumson volunteer firefighters battle the blaze that destroyed the Tredwell House on June 15.

With more than half of fire company volunteers living out of town, a study of the Rumson Fire Department recommends that the borough hire some paid firefighters.

The Rumson Municipal Fire Study was conducted and prepared by Harry R. Carter at the request of the Borough Council.

Carter, former chief of the Howell Fire Department and former deputy chief of the Newark Fire Department, holds a doctorate in fire safety compliance.

"We saw it as a double-edged sword," said Fire Chief Joe Ward last week. "Initially we were worried about the outcome, but it came out pretty heavy-handed in favor of the fire department."

One of the findings in the study is that there has been a change in what was traditionally the volunteer base of fire companies in Rumson, as well as most surrounding towns.

According to Carter's study, out of the 45 active members of the Rumson Fire Department, only 29 live in the borough.

The remaining members, many of whom are borough employees at the Department of Public Works (DPW), live in towns like Middletown, Oceanport, Fair Haven, Red Bank, Altantic Highlands, Highlands and Sea Bright.

"According to information provided by your fire chiefs," Carter's study states, "a growing number of members live outside of Rumson. Given the cost of purchasing a home in your community, and the increasing age of your population, it is my opinion that the number of members living outside the community will grow, as they move to areas where they can afford to live."

Ward said that many members of the department are in their sixties, and although having members of the DPW in the department is helpful in cutting the response time for daytime calls, response to night time calls is often much more difficult.

He said that it is for that reason that Carter's suggestion that the department hire a full-time employee for each fire company may have to come to fruition within the next ten years.

"Anecdotal information supplied to me during my interviews allowed me to discover that at one time your community had a paid member on duty to take care of the stations and drive the apparatus," the study states. "You should consider the need to hire a small number of career people to staff your station during the evening and overnight time periods. Perhaps one driver per station to start. This is an issue you cannot avoid addressing based on the manner in which your community is developing."

Ward said that it may come down to having paid firefighters, but that's not something he foresees for the near future.

Another suggestion made by Carter in the study deals with the closing of Fort Monmouth and the loss of its fire department due to the closing of Fort Monmouth under the federal government's Base Relocation and Closing (BRAC) process, scheduled to occur in 2011.

To compensate for the loss of aid provided by Fort Monmouth's fire company, Carter suggested that the borough consider working in concert with neighboring communities such as Little Silver, Oceanport, Fair Haven, Long Branch and Eatontown to discuss an interlocal regionalization.

"I would suggest," the report states, "the use of interlocal agreements for any future regional and county-level efforts rather than the use of rigidly inflexible organizations. You lose any form of control with that form of organization."

Ward said that the loss of the fort's fire department, specifically its help in removing hazardous materials and doing heavy rescues, is something of which he and his department are well aware.

"We've already taken steps to deal with the loss," he said, "including going to surrounding towns and meeting with the fire chiefs. We're already trying to wean ourselves off Fort Monmouth, because we know it's coming."

The borough should also consider, according to the study, moving its dispatch functions to the Monmouth County Police Radio system in Freehold.

"This will allow the fire department to plug into a well-established operational network," the report states, "with dispatch capabilities that extend throughout the county."

Ward said that he feels the Rumson Fire Department, which consists of the Oceanic Hook and Ladder Company, founded in 1879, and the Rumson Fire Company, founded in 1906, is being progressive in its approach.

He and other borough officials have had informal talks with officials from other municipalities about shared services, he said, although there is already a mutual aid system in place now.

"We're trying to do things on a proactive basis," he said. "Our call volume has tripled within a year."

Ward said that the increase in calls to the fire department is directly associated with the fact that the fire department is now responding directly to every fire alarm, as of Jan. 1.

Previously, the Rumson Police Department was dispatched first to check if it was a false alarm, but Ward said that took up valuable time.

"Most calls were not false alarms," he said. "Just because the alarm is going off for burned popcorn, it doesn't mean it was a false alarm."

Ward said that last year, the department took 120 calls, and that since Jan. 1 of this year, the department has already taken 180 calls.

Carter's study commended the department for changing the protocol and getting the fire department out as soon as the calls come in.

"On average," said Ward, "it takes us four minutes to get into service, plus the time it takes to travel to the destination. If you add the police response time of three to four minutes, that's an unacceptable delay."

Ward said that the department is working on replacing a piece of firefighting apparatus from the 1960s with a smaller, four-wheel drive vehicle, in order to reach the rear of some of the larger properties in the borough.

Carter also suggested that the fire department adopt a mission statement and work to provide services in accordance with that statement. He provided an sample statement for the borough's consideration.

"The Rumson Fire Department was formed to provide a critical service to the community," according to the sample mission statement. "The members of that organization will strive to provide effective fire protection and vehicular extrication services to the citizens of their community. They will endeavor to afford taxpayers, residents and visitors quality fire protection at all times and in all areas of the Borough of Rumson, New Jersey."

Ward said that a set of operational procedures has been printed out and handed out to every member of the department.

"Everyone already knew what their job was and what was expected of them," he said. "Now, we just have it in writing."