9/23/19 Caucus
By: Carolyn Maxwell
Fire Chief Ed Mullen
PERTH AMBOY – Fire Chief Ed Mullen discussed with the Council a desperate need for a new firehouse, additional equipment, and additional personnel. “So far, this year between September 20, 2018 thru September 20, 2019 there have been over 2,500 incidents and 200 fire responses.
There is a need to have additional personnel because each shift requires 17 people. We’re down to only 15 (per shift). With the addition of the Seaman Street School, the response time to get to a fire on the other side of town has increased to 8 minutes. Response time for all fires should be under 4 minutes. That is why we need to have a second firehouse built. We have money for an architect and design work. We already looked at one location which has everything in place. Our response time to get to a fire is our number 1 priority. The Fire Prevention Program was moved to be put under the Fire Department. 500 inspections are performed annually because of having two part-time employees. We’re asking to have funding for the firehouse in place for 2020. The revenue has been set in the ordinance.
The State keeps a part of the money generated by the inspections. Inspections should be made for all two-story structures annually. These inspections can help reduce fire hazards. People who have violations are given a 30-day abatement to correct them before fines are issued. The current fleet is basically new, except for Engine #3 which needs to be replaced. The cause of some of the larger fires are due to smoking materials or improper electric wiring. As far as commercial buildings, all appliances should have their own outlets. We are coming up to Fire Prevention Month. We go around to schools and have an open house at the Fire Station. We have two crews instead of five. During the El-Boy (corner of State Street and Dekalb Avenue) fire, we had minimum staffing and we were there for 17 hours. A South Amboy Firefighter fell through a floor and was injured.”
Council President William Petrick spoke up and asked Mullen, “Do you have any outreach programs to ask for volunteers?”
Mullen replied, “It’s hard. Even Avenel and Keasbey are getting paid firefighters. Some of our volunteers left because of not passing the test. Other towns are struggling (in getting volunteers). Some volunteers left because it’s difficult to balance a full-time job and go through fire training. And we have those who claim presumptuous cancer. You can get paid medical care when you state you got the cancer from fighting a fire. We have received a donation of $195,000 from Buckeye for training firefighters and to use the foam tinder material. Mutual aid is supplied by the Kindermorgan Fire Department. The fire department is broken down into levels: The Fire Chief, Administration, Captains, Fire Officials, two part-time Fire Inspectors, and Battalion Chiefs. Each truck has the driver plus two crew members. The fire engines are the only ones who have the hoses. We have 5 fire companies. We’re looking at two properties on Amboy Avenue that are possible locations for the new firehouse. I don’t see any congestion problems on Convery Boulevard, even with the proposed new High School because it is a 4-lane highway.”
Business Administrator Frederick Carr spoke up, “We had a meeting with the designer and architect to look at the Convery Boulevard location. They are specialists at building firehouses and they will not have to use subcontractors. They have built over 300 firehouses. 70% of the 2019 Fire Department budget has been expended.”
