FIRE
NEWS
APP.com 11/12/08 (Update)-A 54-year-old township man was pinned under the axle of a 30-passenger trolley which fell off a lift while he was doing maintenance work underneath it, police said. Hal Hvidsten, 54, owner of Stretch One Limousine and Trolley Co., was pinned at the chest while working on the trolley at the business at 647 N. County line Road, said Sgt. Brian Geoghegan. Hvidsten was moved from beneath the trolley after firefighters used high-pressure air bags to raise the vehicle, said Jackson Mills Fire Company Capt. Ray Tremer Jr., the scene commander. Hvidsten was flown to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune where he was listed in stable condition. Tremer said the air bags are able to lift 40,000 pounds.Jackson Fire Company No. 1 assisted with the air bags. Members of the Quality Medical First Aid and MONOC paramedics removed the man with the help of firefighters.
11/12/08- Firefighters from Station 55 were called to assist Jackson Mills Fire Co. Station 54 on a North County Line address for a trolley bus that fell off a lift trapping a victim under the bus. Crew members of 5505 staffed by Lt Moroney, FF Howles, FF Grossman, and FF Pat Hilger assisted with cribbing the vehicle and using high presure air bags to lift the bus off the victim. Engine 5701 staffed by Lt. Moore and FF's Zimmerman & Schwartz set up a Medicvac landing zone at Jackson Mills Fire Co. located on N County Line Rd along with Assistant Chief Fatovic who was landing zone Incident Command. The victim was removed by fire crews stabilized and transported to the landing zone by Quality EMS and Mon-Oc Paramedics. The victim was medivaced to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune where he was listed in stable condition. Station 54 Capt. Ray Tremer was Incident Command
MVA CRASH INJURES ONE
11/12/08- Fire District firefighters responded to a motor vehicle crash this morning involving a vacant school bus. The crash involved one injury who was treated by crew members of 5511 staffed by Lt Schoch, FF Stacy, FF McLaughlin and FF Perrotto. The victim was transported to the hospital by Quality EMS. The crash snapped a power line pole in half and traffic was diverted until JCP&L shut power down and repairs were made. Crew members of 5505 staffed by Lt Moroney, FF Howles, FF Grossman, and FF Pat Hilger assisted with traffic control while the crew of 5511 secured the vehicle batteries and contained fluid leaks. A handline was stretched as a precaution when a small fire broke out in the tree limbs from the power line. District Chief Byrnes was the Incident Commander.
CHIMNEY FIRE EXTINGUISHED
11/3/08
- Jackson
firefighters responder to a
working structure fire on
7 vehicles involved in
chain-reaction crash near Jackson Liberty HS
APP 10/28/08- Seven vehicles coming from Jackson Liberty High
School were involved in a chain- reaction pile-up which was started when a
car struck the rear of a school bus with students on board, resulting in
minor injuries, police said. The collisions occurred at the corner of
Cooks Bridge and Pitney roads about 2 p.m., said Lt. Richard Wagner. Two
high school students on the bus were treated for minor injuries, Wagner
said. The vehicles were mostly small compact cars with the exception
of one Jeep Cherokee, Wagner said. Four of the cars had to be towed from
the scene. Two had minor damage and were able to be driven from the scene.
In addition to police, Quality EMS, Jackson Fire Company No. 1 and the
Whitesville Fire Company responded. Traffic Safety Officer Christopher
Kelly is investigating.
Missing Jackson boy
found in Brick this morning
October 15, 2008
BY MICHELLE SAHN
STAFF WRITER
Police in Brick this morning found the 13-year-old boy who suffers from diabetes and had been missing since he left his Jackson home Tuesday morning. Eric D. McGrath was brought to Kimball Medical Center in Lakewood because he was in a somewhat weakened condition when he was found around 8:40 a.m., police said. The boy's parents are with him at the hospital. A crossing guard on her way to work in Point Pleasant spotted the teen walking on Route 88 this morning, said Jackson Police Capt. David Newman. Because she believed the boy was probably the missing teen, she called Point Pleasant police, who then notified Brick officers. On Tuesday, police launched a massive search for McGrath, who went missing around 8 a.m. They used off-road vehicles, a helicopter and foot patrols to look for the boy, who was at least ten miles away from his Buckingham Drive home when he was found this morning.
Jackson cops search for missing
boy, 13
By MATT PAIS APP STAFF WRITER
October 14, 2008
As dusk turned to darkness Tuesday, teams of volunteers and law enforcement officials hoisted large lighting rigs at Flair Ridge Park, still hopeful that an ongoing search for a 13-year-old township boy would bear fruit. By that time, the exhaustive search for Eric D. McGrath was nearly 12 hours old, and had involved the use of off-road vehicles, door-to-door canvassing and a helicopter. It began just after 8 a.m., when police were called to his home on Buckingham Drive after receiving a 911 call reporting an altercation between the boy and his father. "We've tapped every available resource we have at this point," Capt. David Newman said. "So far, we have not located the juvenile." McGrath's disappearance drew such a large response, in part, because of his medical history. He is a diabetic who needs to take insulin and other medications, and also has a history of emotional problems, according to a flier circulated among volunteers helping in the search. Newman said the boy's father told officers he had not taken his insulin dose Tuesday morning.
The flier stated that McGrath did not report for classes at the Regional Day School, and that he often spends time in the wooded areas surrounding the quiet Timber Ridge development, especially near large power lines that flank a portion of Buckingham Drive.It was in the shadow of those power lines that law enforcement officials established a command center at the park, from which they directed the various agencies that turned out to help search. Streets were lined well into the night with police cars from departments as far away as Harvey Cedars, as well as township fire trucks, school buses and Ocean County K-9 units. Members of the Jackson Community Emergency Response Team, or CERT, joined the search, and the local Salvation Army chapter helped staff the command post to feed the search party. Officers conducted door-to-door searches in the immediate area, and blanketed neighboring subdivisions with hopes of finding someone who had seen McGrath. Police also put the Jackson School District's emergency notification system to use and called every home with school-age children with a description of the boy, who was last seen wearing blue jeans and a blue hooded sweat shirt. During the early stages of the search, while officers were still gathering information at McGrath's home, his father — who Newman said is also a diabetic — began to have health problems of his own. He was transported to Kimball Medical Center in Lakewood. There was no word on his condition late Tuesday night.
October 13, 2008
All residents evacuated safely
BY ZACH PATBERG APP TOMS RIVER BUREAU
A fire thought to be started over a cooking
stove tore through an apartment complex Monday afternoon, sending about a
dozen men, women and teenagers off from school for Columbus Day into the
street, officials and witnesses said. No one was injured.At the Regency
Club's Building 12 on New Prospect Road, burnt rubble spilled from five
gutted apartments. Jackson Police Capt. David Newman said the fire spread
through at least six of the 12 units while the rest received smoke and
water damage. Many of the residents complained about the response time,
with several insisting it took the first firetruck 35 to 40 minutes to
arrive. Charles Smith, chief of Jackson's Fire Company 1 -- one of six
companies to respond -- said the first truck was there 12 minutes after
the Ocean County 911 dispatcher called him at 1:40 p.m. The fire was under
control about an hour later, Newman said.
"Seconds seem like minutes when you're seeing your house burning
down," Smith said. He added that the company comprises volunteers who
were responding from different places. Still, the delay didn't sit well
with tenants. "Every time we heard a siren we're thinking, 'Oh good,
a firetruck finally.' But it was just another police or EMT car,"
said Tony Zane, 48, whose upstairs apartment stared windowless and charred
from the front of the building. Residents also said no alarms sounded to
alert them of a fire, forcing them instead to rely on door pounding and
word-of-mouth.
Each Regency Club building, along with having a smoke detector in the
apartments, has a fire bell on the front exterior. Property manager Karen
Palmer said the bell at Building 12 should have gone off. Chief Smith said
it was not ringing when he arrived. "I was in my apartment for 20
minutes before I even knew there was a fire," said Alyse Honey, 27,
who about to take a nap at the time. "If I hadn't heard people
screaming outside, I might've gone to sleep." Lauren Smith, 21, was
car shopping with her mom when a friend called to say her building was on
fire. She lost her two cats in the blaze. Maria ""Ruby'' Aure,
17, was in the shower when her visiting friend Amanda Dorn, 15, came into
the bathroom screaming that they had to get out. Aure was able to put on a
bathrobe before leaving.
"When I opened the door it was all black" with smoke, Aure said
later, dressed in a camouflage dress borrowed from a friend's
sister.Newman said the fire was called in as a result of a cooking
incident on a stove in the second-story Apartment 12L. The Ocean County
Fire Marshal's Office is investigating. All occupants had evacuated the
building themselves, he said. Lenny Winter, a Disaster Assessment Team
member for the America Red Cross Jersey Coast Chapter, said the agency is
providing the misplaced tenants with money for clothes and a stay of up to
three nights in a hotel.Before flames destroyed his apartment, Zane was
able to salvage only his wallet, cell phone and a sense of humor. "I
was planning to move to Edison to be closer to work," the electronics
technician said, standing on the curb, his shirt stained with sweat.
"This will make packing a lot easier."
Regency Club Apartments Fire (10/13/08)
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4-alarm fire guts Jackson
apartments |
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(10/13/08) JACKSON TOWNSHIP - A fire
ripped through the Regency Club Apartments in Jackson Township
Monday, gutting three housing units and damaging several more. Neighbors alerted other apartment residents to the four-alarm
fire and everyone made it out safely. Residents who live on the
first floor, which was initially isolated from the flames, had smoke
detectors, but they did not go off because there was no smoke in the
apartments. It took about an hour for the worst flames to be extinguished and
the fire to be brought under control. Jackson Township?s paid
firefighters had Columbus Day off, leading volunteers to respond.
Though officials say the volunteers arrived in 12 minutes, tenant
Eric Devine says it felt much longer. "I don't mean to knock
them,? Devine says. ?My wife's whole family is firefighters in New
York, but this volunteer system is no good. It's no good." |
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Congress
Passes Legislation to Reauthorize
the U.S. Fire Administration
Fairfax, Va., Sept. 25, 2008... Yesterday, Congress passed the U.S. Fire Administration Reauthorization Act of 2008. The legislation was sponsored by Senators Christopher Dodd (D-CT), Susan Collins (R-ME), Joseph Biden (D-DE) and John McCain (R-AZ) and Representatives Harry Mitchell (D-AZ) and Phil Gingrey (R-GA).
The bill includes a number of recommendations supported by the IAFC, which are intended to ensure the U.S. Fire Administration is able to provide strong support to the fire service community as it fulfills its many critical missions and responds to emerging challenges. The legislation will:
 | Authorize appropriations for the USFA for four years, starting with
$70 million in FY 2009 and ending with $76.49 million in FY 2012 to
promote long-term funding stability for the agency
| Authorize $5 million from FY 2009 to FY 2011 to update the National
Fire Incident Reporting System to make it a more effective real-time,
Internet-based reporting tool
| Authorize the National Fire Academy (NFA) to teach classes relating
to fires in the wildland-urban interface, hazardous-materials
incidents and advanced EMS training
| Require a triennial report on curricula changes at NFA, including
how these changes reflected lessons learned from significant emergency
events and emergency preparedness exercises
| Direct the U.S. fire administrator to use the Internet to publicize
information on its fire-related research
| Encourage the USFA to promote the adoption of national voluntary
consensus standards, including the standards related to firefighter
operations, training, staffing and fitness
| Authorize the U.S. fire administrator to coordinate EMS-related
activities with federal, state and local government agencies
| Support the adoption of fire sprinklers in commercial buildings and
the USFA’s educational programs to raise public awareness about the
importance of residential fire sprinklers
| Ensure state and local fire service representation at the DHS
National Operations Center to better facilitate information sharing, a
provision the IAFC has strongly supported | |
“I am very pleased Congress has enacted this important legislation, which will strengthen the USFA and enhance federal support to the fire service,” said Chief Larry Grorud, IAFC president. “I look forward to the president signing the bill into law.”
Hamilton
may unite its five fire companies
Sunday,
September 21, 2008
Hamilton Township is one of a growing number of local municipalities studying whether to merge all of its volunteer fire departments into one entity
. It's something that some municipalities in several southern New Jersey counties already have done in an effort to bring more uniformity - such as in the type of firefighting equipment purchased - and cost effectiveness to fire department operations. Ted Lowden, the Evesham Township, Burlington County, fire department chief overseeing the study in Hamilton Township, said the consolidations have worked well in other municipalities such as Evesham Township, Egg Harbor Township, Cherry Hill and Moorestown. "The volunteers are still well-represented, and volunteers are recruited and sustained," Lowden said. "Yes, a large number of single (volunteer) fire departments that work independently still get the job done well, and such is the case in Hamilton Township. But there are always ways to do things better."Hamilton Township Administrator Edward Sasdelli said the study simply will list the pros and cons of forming one fire department and that no decision on what to do will be made until Lowden's report is thoroughly vetted. Hamilton Township has five volunteer fire departments, including Mays Landing, Cologne, Laureldale, Mizpaw and Weymouth. Weymouth Fire Chief John Carrigan said all five of Hamilton Township's fire chiefs have been consulted and are "on board" with the study. Like many New Jersey municipalities, Hamilton Township depends on multiple volunteer fire departments to handle firefighting and emergency situations. While the fire departments run their own fundraising operations, they depend on municipal government to buy much of their equipment, including fire trucks. Municipalities throughout New Jersey are trying to improve control over what they spend. Buying a fire truck or other equipment represents a significant tax-payer financed expenditure.
A recent report from the state Commission of Investigation, or SCI, says the purchase of firetrucks, some of the most expensive items municipal governments own, easily can overwhelm a small town's ability to ensure proper accountability and transparency. The commission advised that the Department of Community Affairs should assume oversight and control of firetruck purchases, that firetruck companies be required to provide more detail on the apparatus, and that state and ethics laws be enhanced explicitly to cover local fire personnel to ward off collusion and conflicts of interest. The SCI report found almost 60 of 80 firetruck purchases it looked at used proprietary firetruck information in requests for proposals. It singled out six such municipalities - including Galloway Township - that gave the winning bidder an early advantage. Sasdelli said should Hamilton Township decide on one fire department, each of the existing volunteer fire departments would act as fire stations and have their own chiefs. Those departments would be overseen by a township-wide fire chief, he said. Hamilton Township officials said the system could create uniformity in things such as equipment purchases, training, and recruitment. It might also create a better way to spread equipment throughout the township, they said.Sasdelli said he expects the study to be done by the end of the year so any changes could be incorporated in the 2009 municipal budget.
Victory! Residential Fire Sprinklers Proposal Approved Today at ICC Hearing
Fairfax, Va., Sept. 21, 2008... A committed and united fire service accomplished a significant feat today in the fight to save lives and property. At the International Code Council (ICC) final action hearings in Minneapolis, the proposal to change the International Residential Code to require residential fire sprinklers in all new one- and two-family dwellings passed with a strong majority—73 percent—of the governmental members of the ICC present and voting. The vote was 1,282 for the code to 470 against.
Fire service personnel showed up in force as part of a unified effort with others from more than 100 public safety organizations, including the IAFC and IAFF. They came prepared with incontrovertible evidence that residential fire sprinklers save much more than property; they save the lives of the public and the lives of fire service personnel who protect them.
Director Alan Perdue, the International Director of the IAFC’s Fire and Life Safety Section, expressed the tremendous sense of accomplishment felt by all after the long and arduous process to get this requirement into the codes. “For more than 30 years, the fire service community has worked toward the goal of saving lives and reducing fire loss by installing residential fire sprinklers,” he said. “By bringing all aspects of the fire service together for a common cause, today we have concluded the first monumental step of requiring residential fire sprinklers in the model codes. It is imperative, however, that we continue our collaborative efforts to protect both the public and our firefighters on the front line by working to make certain that these requirements are also adopted into state and local codes. I want to personally thank every individual and organization that was involved in making this a reality and know that your continued commitment to this initiative will save thousands of lives in the future.”
Recreational Trailer Fire Extinguished
August 26, 2008 - Stations 55, 56 & 57 were dispatched to a structure fire at a trailer being renovated at at Maple Lake Campground. First arriving unit 5705 with crew members Jason Zimmerman and Vincent Schwartz reported the fire knocked down and a smoke condition inside the trailer. Chief Ken Byrnes arrived shortly after and assumed Fire Command. Crews from 5511 arrived and assisted 5705 with salvage and overhaul of the trailer and checked for fire extension. Fire Official Frank McDonnell investigated and determined the fire was accidental in nature and the point of origin was the hot water heater pilot light assembly in contact with combustibles.
Night Out joins
Jackson residents, service groups
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Convery said the Policemen's Benevolent Association donated bicycles for a bicycle raffle for children. Area companies made donations of various equipment and rides. ShopRite supplied hamburgers and hot dogs. Convery estimated that several thousand people would visit the event for at least part of the evening. The Jackson Police Department's DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) car was on hand for inspection. A rappelling demonstration by law enforcement personnel was a highlight of the evening. The demonstration was dedicated to all air assault troopers and to the paratroopers who have been in the 82nd or the 101st Airborne division. Representatives of Jackson's fire companies were on hand to demonstrate their equipment.
The Jackson Mills Fire Company was a hit with the crowd. Youngsters — and some dads — were allowed to climb into the driver's seat of a vehicle and pretend they were on their way to save a family from a burning building. Children had a chance to see how a fire extinguisher works and they were allowed to put out an activated live fire. The Jackson Volunteer First Aid Squad and Quality Medical Transport had ambulances on exhibit and demonstrated cardiopulmonary resuscitation and a variety of first aid techniques. Representatives of the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) were on hand to explain the mission of the group. During specialized training, civilians learn how to respond to emergencies with first aid, trauma and rescue skills. CERT would supplement police and fire responses during a large-scale emergency. This year the New Jersey State Police joined the event, sending officers and equipment dealing with homeland security issues. "We are part of a chemical, biological, radiological vehicular unit," said Sgt. Mike Macintyre of the New Jersey State Police Hazmat response unit. "We go out and look for samples for evidence collection and testing in order to provide that kind of information." Macintyre pointed to an assortment of equipment that is used by the Hazmat response unit, including one piece that tests chemical agents. "These are Level-A fully encapsulated [protective] suits that are worn [in potentially dangerous areas]," he said. "This is an air purifying respirator, which gives the wearer more time in [the suits] and these are chemical agent 256 kits to detect nerve agents."
New Jersey State Police Trooper Jeff Gauthier showed equipment that is used when dogs are trained as canine officers. A police dog was present for the event. Also on hand were members of the New Jersey State Police Bomb Squad, Technical Emergency and Mission Specialists, the New Jersey National Guard and the auxiliary police. Prime Time Showband, a Rockland County, N.Y., band led by Billy Keenan, played dance music that kept people moving. Information was also presented to guests by representatives of the Jackson Optimist Club, the Kiwanis Club, the Jackson-Plumsted Domestic Violence Response Team, the Jackson Academy of Taekwondo, the Jackson Fitness Center, Fancy Limos.com, and the Intrinsic Chiropractic Center. Children's identification cards were being handled by Jackson police officers Joseph Oleksy and Burt Salisbury.
Dump Truck Overturns
Tuesday July 15, 2008- At approximately 15:40 hours Fire District firefighters located at the S Hope Chapel Firehouse (Sta.57) were dispatched to an overturned dump tuck at Jackson Asphalt located on South Hope Chapel Rd. Ladder 5705 lead by Company Officer Lt. Ed Moore with firefighters Jay Zimmerman and Vincent Schwartz responded. Upon arrival they found a dump truck on it's side leaking hydraulic fluid. The leaked was contained and haz- mat agencies were notified for clean-up. The driver was transported to the hospital by Quality EMS. Crews stood by while the truck was up righted. NJ DEP, Berkely Haz -Mat unit, OC Prosecutors office, Jackson OEM & Fire Safety Bureau were notified or responded.
Suburban
sprawl continues at Shore
New census figures show area's
growth
July 10, 2008 By
BOB JORDAN APP FREEHOLD BUREAU - Planners
and environmentalists have long tried to rein in
housing developments to save open land, but U.S. Census figures released
Wednesday show that suburban sprawl continues its stretch across New
Jersey.Towns on the outer edges of dense suburban areas, in general, saw
the greatest rates of population increase from 2000 to 2007, the data
show.
At the
Shore area, Ocean County's population grew by 10 percent — to 565,493
— with the highest growth rates occurring in the southern end of the
county that long ago was considered the domain of fishermen and rural
nature lovers.
Jackson, with 9,197
more residents, and Lakewood, with 9,025 more residents, both led the
state with the largest population growth from 2000 to 2007.
Monmouth
County's population grew a modest 4 percent in the seven-year period —
to 642,030 — but the county saw a peak of new roofs in the western areas
once filled with farms.
"Ocean has long been one of the state's growth counties and Monmouth also has had strong growth," said James W. Hughes, dean of the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University. "The areas with the most developable land are seeing the most growth."
But Hughes said suburban development trends will be stemmed by the high cost of fuel and the slumping housing market. "The question going forward is going to be related to cost of living and spikes in oil prices," Hughes said. "It's going to be more painful paying $4 and $5 a gallon for gasoline, and people are going to be less willing to make long commutes to their jobs."The state population is up by 254,000, to 8.7 million, a 3 percent change. The census data also show that locally:Barnegat (population up 42.2 percent), Waretown (up 33.5 percent), and Little Egg Harbor (up 27.6 percent) had the highest growth rates in Ocean County.
In Upper Freehold, Monmouth County's most rural municipality, the estimated population increased by 2,537 to 6,833 — a jump of 59.05 percent. That percentage was the third-highest growth rate in the state, only behind Woolwich in Gloucester County at 181 percent and Lebanon Borough in Hunterdon County at 77 percent. Manalapan had the largest raw population change in Monmouth County, with an increase of 5,168 residents. That boosted the township's population to 38,591. The census data released Wednesday are based on estimates of growth following the once-every-decade count done for the 2000 Census.Local officials interviewed said that they favored continuing efforts to limit suburban sprawl.
Upper Freehold Deputy Mayor Robert J. Faber Sr. said housing developments completed in recent years inflated his township's population, though he said that growth would likely be stunted for now. "The way the market is right now, nobody's going ahead, purchasing or building," Faber said. "Whether it's going to take many years to recover, your guess is as good as mine." About 40 percent of Upper Freehold's 30,365 acres is preserved open space. Faber said he would like to see more open space in town preserved, but noted that funding is not readily available.Stafford used to be one of the fastest-growing municipalities in New Jersey, but efforts by local officials to limit growth have slowed development, Mayor Carl W. Block said. By changing zoning rules, the maximum number of residents who will likely live in town will be about 29,000, Block said. The census estimates the town currently has 26,282 residents. When Block took office in 1983, the build-out population number stood at 75,000 residents, he said. "I think given where we started, given what we had to work with, I think we certainly did the best we can do," Block said. "Some people have trouble believing it, but when you pull a map out . . . the proof is there." Block said his administration is in the process of continuing to look at acquiring more open space in an effort to curb further development. Ultimately, he said he believes the projected build-out population of 29,000 itself is too high. "We know where the end is," Block said. "But as you get closer to the ceiling, it slows down, because you run out of land."
Monmouth County Freeholder John D'Amico Jr. said the population change in the county "continues to be at a manageable growth rate." Monmouth County Freeholder Director Lillian G. Burry said open-space and farmland preservation programs and county government services "offer an array of support and assistance to residents and municipalities alike."
Vehicle Extricated after Head-On Crash
Wednesday July 9, 2008- At approximately 09:24 Fire District 3 (Sta.55) firefighters were dispatched head-on collision between two vehicles on Cooks Bridge Road, just south of Manhattan Street that sent three people including a toddler to the hospital after being extricated by District 3 (Sta.55) firefighters. Fire District 4 (Sta 54) firefighters stood by at Johnson Park on Kierych Memorial Dr., as they waited for medical helicopter to transport one person to Jersey Shore Medical Center in Neptune. Medics on scene canceled the medivac helicopter and drove the victim instead. The initial investigation shows that one car crossed over the center line and struck the oncoming car head on. The injuries do not immediately appear life-threatening according to police officials. Jackson Police Traffic Safety is investigating and Quality EMS transported the victims to the Hospitals.
Apartment Fire Sends One To Hospital Evacuates Tenants
Tuesday July 8,2008- At approximately 13:45 hours Stations 54, 55 & 57 were dispatched to a structure fire at the C-Building of Pineview Apartments on West County Line Rd. First arriving Chief Ken Byrnes reported a working fire in apartment C-13 with a victim with burn injuries to his face and hands. First arriving unit 5511 commanded by Co. Officer Lt. Gerard Moroney and his crew firefighters Howles, Hilger and Grossman stretched a handline to the apartment. Second due units 5505 with Co. Officer Lt. Schoch and his crew firefighters Stacy, Granado, Perotto & McLaughlin assisted with ventilation and fast team. Unit 5705 with acting Co Officer FF Zimmerman and his crew member firefighter Schwartz assisted with a water supply and back up fire lines. Fire Official McDonnell assisted with personnel accountability and fire investigation.
The fire was located in the back bedroom and quickly knocked down. Fire crews checked for extension and ventilated the apartment. Firefighters also evacuated first and second floor apartments around the fire apartment as a precaution. The fire did not extend into the structural members of the building and was contained to the bedroom contents. The burn victim was a tenant of the apartment and was transported to Kimball Medical Center by Quality EMS for burns. Fire Investigation was conducted by Jackson Bureau of Fire Safety District 1 & 3 Fire Official McDonnell and Jackson Police Detective Scott Conover. The cause and origin is still under investigation.
Plumbers Torch Ignites Condominium Fire
Monday July 7, 2006- Stations 55 and 57 were dispatched to a reported structure fire at 103C Pleasant Drive in the Whitesville Section of town. 5705 arrived on scene and was informed by the maintenance manager that the fire had been extinguished. The maintenance manager was utilizing a plumbers torch to work on plumbing in the bathroom when the torch ignited exposed insulation and spread up behind the sheet rock wall. Firefighters verified that the fire was out and checked the pipe chase in the basement and attic of the building for any fire extension. The crew from 5705 also began providing EMS assistance to the resident of the apartment who was found experiencing respiratory distress. The maintenance manager, who was operating the torch, had burns to his lower legs. The resident of the apartment was treated on scene by MONOC Paramedics and transported to the hospital by Quality EMS. Crews operated in high temperatures both in the attic of the house and the outside air on this hot and humid day. The fire was found to have been extinguished by the maintenance manager utilizing an ABC fire extinguisher and a bucket of water. Firefighters verified no extension into other parts of the building. The Ocean County Fire Marshal and Jackson Police also responded. This was the second fire related to a plumbers torch to start a fire at a condominium in the same district within a month.
| Hackensack firefighters try to save EMT's jobs |
| 7/2/08-HACKENSACK,
NJ - On the eve of the 20th anniversary of five city firefighters
losing their lives battling an auto dealership fire, firefighters,
EMT’s and city residents marched on Hackensack University Medical
Center, on June 30th, in a protest against the City Council’s
plans to replace fire department-based emergency medical services
with a third-party private ambulance company later this summer.
Eight city EMT’s, which cover the city during daytime hours, most
with 20-years of experience, will lose their jobs. They are civilian
members of the Fire Department and part of the local union. The hospital plans to provide the third-party private ambulance company, Vanguard, which opponents say is apparently not licensed to provide emergency medical services, according to union officials. “This plan contradicts the national trend of the fire department-based emergency medical services. Municipalities throughout the country-except the politicians in Hackensack-know that fire department-based EMS is a public service with superior response time and experience, career EMT’s who know their communities. It’s designed to save lives and is best positioned to deliver time-critical, effective patient care,” said John Linquito, president of the Hackensack Professional Firefighters & EMT’s I.A.F.F. Local 2081. Added Charles Grieco, president of the Hackensack Uniformed Fire Officers Association, I.A.F.F. Local 3172, “The last thing residents need is a medical emergency, when every second counts, is an EMT fresh out of EMS school relying on a dashboard GPS to find their house. The experience and response time of a private company is inferior to fire department-based EMS-particularly a third-party company that does not have its own license to provide emergency medical services.” According to union officials, while city officials claim the plan was a joint effort with HUMC, a statement issued in June by a hospital spokesperson indicates the contrary. The written statement said: “This priority governed all of our decisions in the case of the new Cancer Center, in which the City of Hackensack stipulated as a condition for approval of the new facility that HUMC accept responsibility for one shift of the ambulance service (overnight is covered by volunteers). The Developer’s Agreement being referred to is the deal reached between the City of Hackensack and HUMC, allowing the hospital to construct a new Cancer Center next to the hospital. Local 2081 assembled a coalition of community leaders, residents, area civic organizations and union members to vehemently oppose the transition, which the mayor and council had originally scheduled for August 1st, but recently pushed to later in the summer. “Despite what the City Council says, this is not a done deal. If our elected officials turn a deaf ear to Hackensack residents, we will make our voices heard at election time,” Linquito said. For more information, go to www.SAVEHFDEMS.com
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Man Trapped Under Vehicle Rescued
Tue. 7/1/08 3pm- Firefighters from Fire Districts 1 & 3 (Sta. 55 & 57) responded to a Whitesville Road residence and extricated a 69-year-old township man who was trapped underneath his elevated pickup truck when it fell off its ramp onto him while he was working underneath. First due unit 5705 commanded by Lt Ed Moore and his crew FF Jay Zimmerman & Vinnie Schwartz hand lifted the vehicle off of the victim and pulled him out. They were assisted at the scene by the victims grandson who called 9-1-1 and Jackson Police Captain Newman and Sgt Geoghegan. Firefighter-EMT's, Quality EMS and Mon-OC Paramedics treated the victim and as a result of his serious injury to his chest, firefighters set up a landing zone at Christa McAulliffe Middle School as Mon-Oc One Medivac helicopter flew the man to Jersey Shore Regional Trauma Center for treatment of his injuries.
Plumbers Torch Ignites Fire at Condominiums
6/6/08- Stations 55 & 57 (District 1 and 3) were dispatched to a structure fire at a condominium residence at Primrose Lane at approximately 15:45 hours. Ladder 5705 commanded by Lt Moore was first due to arrive within 3 minutes of dispatch reporting a working fire in the crawlspace of the building. He immediately initiated a second alarm for Stations 54 and 56 (District 4 and 2) to assist. The crew of of 5705 Firefighters Zimmerman and Schwartz assisted Lt Moore in stretching a hand line to the crawlspace. The crew entered the the crawlspace and suppressed the remaining fire. Additional crews 5708 and 5505 arrived shortly on scene and assisted with mop up and ventilation of the crawlspace. Fire Official Frank McDonnell (18307) of Jackson Bureau of Fire Safety District 1 & 3 ruled the fire accidental when the Plumber used a torch to burn away spider webs under the crawlspace to service the HVAC unit igniting the insulation. The fire was contained to the crawlspace insulation and no fire extension was found to the structure. The plumber assisted in knocking down the fire prior to fire units arriving on scene, sustaining minor injuries and smoke inhalation. He was treated at the scene and refused transportation to the hospital.
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Jackson rallies around injured seventh-grader JACKSON- Friends and family members of James Darby will gather on June 1 to rally support for the youngster who was injured in a bicycle accident on April 9. James, 12, is in the seventh grade at the McAuliffe Middle School. "James was injured while he was riding his bike with his friends," said his neighbor, Kelli Kalapos, whose son Brendan Gibson has been a close friend of James for four years. "James was seriously injured with head trauma and had to undergo reconstructive surgery." James' mother, Rosemarie Darby, said her son was not wearing a helmet at the time of the accident. "So far he's shown no cognitive impairment. He underwent six hours of brain surgery," she said, explaining that nine titanium plates and 40 screws had to be used. "He's getting stronger every day and has started home schooling. If any good can come from it, [I hope] other children can learn that not wearing your helmet can cause such significant injuries." Kalapos said she and her husband, Jesse, came up with the idea of hosting a benefit for James and his family to help with medical bills. The event will be held 2-5 p.m. June 1 at the Jackson Volunteer Firehouse No. 1, Station 55, 113 New Prospect Road. "He's got a little bit of a long road ahead of him," said Kalapos. "They are a wonderful family, and James is a great kid. The whole community is coming together, the middle school, the police department and people who have stepped up to help make this a success for the family. "James is a wonderful boy who has a great sense of humor. He loves hanging out with his friends and playing video games. James is a Yankees fan and loves being with his dog Sasha. The Darbys are a wonderful family who are very humble and caring people." "We hope the community will rally in support of this family," said Councilman Scott Martin, who has been a friend of Jesse Kalapos for more than 30 years. "I've been helping to get the word out. We are gathering baskets to be raffled off and we're hoping to get out as many people as possible." A $5 donation at the door will provide guests with a buffet and music by DJ Davy. Facial Expressions will provide face painting and tattoos for children, and there will be a space ride. Raffles will also be part of the event. Gift baskets and items to be raffled off include a safety basket donated by Jackson Firemen's Benevolent Association Local 86, a basket of cheer donated by Sen. Robert Singer, Assemblyman Joseph Malone and Assemblyman Ron Dancer, a Sonic Care basket donated by Jackson Orthodontics, two Great Adventure season passes donated by Great Adventure, a Blue Claws basket donated by the Lakewood BlueClaws, a Lladro figurine donated by Jackson Pharmacy, a "day of beauty" basket donated by Chips Salon, an iPod Nano donated by Sunrise Assisted Living, and a spa basket donated by De- Pasquale's Spa. Other raffle items include Tastefully Simple donated by Michelle Ballard, consultant, a lunch cruise for two donated by Riverboat Cruises, a My Flat in London pocketbook donated byMy Flat in London, a boys baseball basket donated by CJ Dollar, and a pearl necklace along with a $25 gift card donated by Ultra Diamonds jewelry store. Additional items come from Just Your Style Salon, a golf basket, Lakewood Blue- Claws tickets and a basket donated by Mary Gleckner. The list also includes gift certificates from Renarde Salon in Wall, from Victoria's Secret, Chuck E. Cheese in Brick, Van Holten's Chocolate in Brick, Tribal Passage in Brick, Ocean Lanes in Lakewood, Arbonne and gift certificates donated by Melanie Giblin, consultant, theWhite Butterfly, Sam's Barber Shop, and Lowe's of Howell. There are also gift baskets being donated by friends and neighbors of the Darbys, including an ice cream basket, a movie night basket, wine baskets, a Crayola basket, a beach basket, a beer basket, a children's game basket and a candy basket Gift certificates have been donated by IHOP of Brick, Longhorn Steakhouse in Howell, The Mug Rack, Farley's Ice Cream, Chicken Holiday, Solo Bella and Scorpio's Steakhouse, Donations have been made by the Jackson Policemen's Benevolent
Association No. 168, Jackson Pharmacy, State Farm Insurance and
The River Lady of Toms River. Raffle tickets can be purchased at
the benefit. Food is being donated by La Bove Grande Restaurant,
Lighthouse Restaurant, First Choice Caterers, Joseph's Pizzeria,
All-Star Bagels and Emilio's.The Jackson Police Department DARE
car and a patrol car will be on hand for the June 1 event.
Monetary donations may be made to the James Darby Benefit Fund,
c/o Jesse and Kelli Kalapos, 10 Pennsylvania Ave., Jackson, NJ
08527. For more information call Jesse and Kelli Kalapos at 732-
886-8965. |
Chimney Fire Extinguished
5/12/08 A reported chimney fire dispatched Stations 54, 55 and 57 to a Farmingdale Rd residence. First due Chief Lubertowski (5400) established command and reported a working chimney fire extending possibly into the the attic. Telesquirt 5505 with Co. Officer Lt Moroney (18340) arrived on scene shortly after command was established stretched a handline into the second floor in search of the attic access. 5705 with Co. Officer Lt Moore (18350) assisted 5505 with interior operations. 5405 arrived on scene and laddered the roof with its crew cutting access around the chimney to gain access to the fire. A handline was stretched to the roof and extinguished the fire that was confined to the chimney. Firefighters applied a salvage cover on the roof hole to keep the rain out and the interior to protect the contents from water damage during suppression operations. The attic area around the chimney and a 2nd floor bedroom suffered moderate damage as firefighters attempted to find the origin of the fire by cutting into the attic wall around the chimney and removing the bedroom ceiling into the attic. One volunteer firefighter was injured in a motor vehicle crash enroute to the firehouse, was transported to the hospital and released with a minor injury. Mutual aid for a tanker and R.I.T. team was requested from Freewood Acres Fire Co. Fire Official Frank McDonnell (18307) of Jackson Bureau of Fire Safety District 1 & 3 ruled the fire accidental with the origin starting in the chimney stack.
Fire Extinguished by Homeowner
5/1/08 A quick thinking homeowner was able to knock down a fire that was confined to a bedroom entertainment unit and clothes cabinet. The homeowner located on Sunningdale Ct in Westlake Riviera called 911 when she saw fire coming from the cabinet storing her clothes. She was able to evacuate her husband from the house who was napping in the bedroom when the fire started called 911 and knocked down the fire with a fire extinguisher. Fire District firefighters arriving within 4 minutes of dispatch overhauled the unit and removed it from the residence. Fire Official Frank McDonnell of Jackson Bureau of Fire Safety District 1 & 3 ruled the fire accidental.
Did
fatal accident fan flames of old tensions?
FIREFIGHTERS RIVALRY: Web postings say
volunteers, paid firefighters at odds
By ED JOHNSON APP STAFF
WRITER April 13,
2008
A fatal accident on Tinton Avenue has reopened a controversy by spotlighting what some claim are long-simmering tensions between Eatontown's volunteer firefighters and the paid department assigned to protect Fort Monmouth. Two firefighters who were present at the accident scene said there was a brief dispute between an Eatontown fire officer and his Fort Monmouth counterpart about why Fort Monmouth had responded to the call. Those firefighters spoke on condition of anonymity, because neither was authorized to speak for his department. Additional comments about those hard feelings came mostly in the form of anonymous blogs attached to a www.app.com news article on the March 20 car crash. The officials responsible for commanding the two fire departments, however, deny there were any problems. Whether it was a simple misunderstanding or a territorial dispute is an open question. Yet problems between career and volunteer firefighters happen, Asbury Park Fire Chief Kevin Keddy said.
"It ebbs and flows," said Keddy, who heads the largest paid department in Monmouth County with 43 paid members and who was himself a volunteer in Monmouth Beach. "I've experienced it firsthand. Usually it's out of ignorance on both sides." The early morning crash in Eatontown on March 20 resulted in fire crews from Eatontown and Fort Monmouth and the Eatontown First Aid Squad responding. One man died, and another was critically injured in the accident. Although the job got done, there was strong evidence that it sparked more than just fraternal bickering between some of the firefighters. The aftershocks of that spat played out across 167 blog messages onwww.app.com, with some intramural sniping among supposed members of the three services involved in the interplay and suggestions that a paid regional emergency service might be the answer to perceived problems. "I am personally disgusted by some of the ignorant and selfish comments from the area departments' members and officers on this matter. A person lost their life and another may still die and you are worried about the Fort Monmouth Fire Department stealing your glory . . . Thank God for Eatontown Police Officer who had the courage to do the right thing and call for the best help available," one poster wrote.
Another wrote: "The underlying issue is the fear that a volunteer organization faces when there is a career . . . organization who offers the same type of service . . . Fort Monmouth doesn't sound like they're trying to take over, but only offer help when and where it is needed." The Fort Monmouth Fire Chief, John C. Erichsen, said he was surprised by the controversy, especially because he responded to the call that generated all the criticism. "There were no problems on that call that I'm aware of," he said. "All of the responders worked well together, and we extricated the injured person." Eatontown Fire Chief Wallace Englehart said he was out of state at the time the accident happened, but added he was so concerned about the negative chatter on the Press' Web site that he conducted his own investigation. "As far as I could tell this whole thing was a non-issue," Englehart said. "I haven't received any complaints, and we haven't made any changes to the way we work with Fort Monmouth."
Englehart said the only concerns he has now is that the matter could give the public the wrong impression about area firefighters. "When the Fort Monmouth and the Eatontown Fire Department come to a scene, their only concern is the welfare of the person they're rescuing," he said. "We really don't care who comes first. We're concerned about getting the job done." Yet a blogger who purported to be an Eatontown firefighter had this to say: "The car crash was in fact in Eatontown, not Fort Monmouth . . . so why did they show up and take over?"
Mutual aid
There are times when friction exists between first responders, area chiefs said. In addition, there are times when another department will supplant the locals as the first responders or separate departments will arrive at a call simultaneously, they said. To understand protocol — and sometimes the friction that results — requires a hard look at mutual aid agreements, memoranda of understanding and, some said, ego. Friction between firefighters has been around since the days of Benjamin Franklin, said Pat Mason, a former Sea Bright fire chief and the president of the Mid-Monmouth Mutual Aid Association, which coordinates mutual aid agreements for 29 of the county's 132 fire companies. "He was our country's first real fire chief, and there were squabbles between firehouses even back then," he said. "For the most part, guys work together real good, and that's really what mutual aid is all about." For instance, Fort Monmouth firefighters are the first due during daytime calls on Industrial Way in Eatontown, Englehart said, a recognition that they have a quicker response time and the necessary equipment for calls in that area. "It's been that way for as long as I can remember," Englehart said.
And that raises another set of issues, among them: Who can respond more quickly? Englehart has a better perspective on the issue than many. He had 17 years as a paid firefighter on the Fort Monmouth department and has been a volunteer firefighter for 43 years, he said. If there is a difference in response time, it's slight, according to Englehart. "Look, there's a difference in response times," he said. "One group is right there in the firehouse, and the other has to respond to the firehouse. I haven't done any studies on it, but from my observations, there is not a difference in response times to the point that it's critical."
Scene protocol
Another issue is reliability in responding, said Keddy, the Asbury Park chief. Keddy said he has worked Fort Monmouth into his mutual aid plans because he knows he'll get a consistent response from the career firefighters there. "They can guarantee that there will be a chief and four firefighters responding to our location within 15 minutes," Keddy said. "A volunteer department can't guarantee that consistent type of response." There are also issues about who's in charge at a fire scene. In theory, it's something that has been settled statewide by the adoption of an incident command system. But like most things that happen at the scene, there are gray areas, Sea Bright's Mason said. The system gives command to the lead officer on the first piece of apparatus to arrive, Englehart said. Command later reverts to the ranking officer from the municipality that has primary jurisdiction over the fire scene, he added. But not always, Mason said. A ranking officer can decide to let the original incident commander handle the scene if it will alleviate confusion, or if that officer or agency is better equipped to handle the situation. Here's where egos have to be watched, Mason said.
In Sea Bright, the Fort Monmouth department handles all hazardous material calls, building collapses and confined space, or underground, rescues, Mason said. It's a recognition of the department's ability in those areas, he said. Yet a Sea Bright officer remains in overall command of the situation under the incident command guidelines, Mason said. "So their ranking officer reports to our incident commander, who makes the ultimate decisions," Mason said. "Still, any incident commander in his right mind will listen to that specialized unit commander because that's why you called them." Fort Monmouth's expertise is also recognized in Asbury Park, said Fire Inspector Garrett M. Giberson, a department spokesman. Asbury Park has called upon the fort's expertise, especially in hazardous materials calls, he said. The federal firefighters are required to be trained to a higher standard than New Jersey's minimum for certification, Keddy said.
Volunteer vs. paid
A surefire way to spark an argument between career and volunteer firefighters is to infer that the paid department is the professional one, several fire officials said. There's a conception that the paid firefighter is better trained, Mason said. But it's not necessarily the case, he added. It's a tossup in the area of specialized operations because different departments have different requirements, depending on the areas they service, said Ocean County Fire Marshal Daniel P. Mulligan. But statewide, the basic firefighter certification is the same for paid and volunteer firefighters, he said. Some departments have their own additional requirements beyond the state's minimums, Mulligan said. Those standards are laid out in the New Jersey Fire Safety Act, and the state Division of Fire Safety is responsible to overseeing the training standards, Mulligan said. Besides, in Monmouth County, many of the paid firefighters are also volunteers, Erichsen, the Fort Monmouth chief, said. "There's no way our people would disrespect a volunteer," Erichsen said. "Ninety percent of them are also volunteers on area departments."
Study will examine uniting fire districts
Jackson solicits firm to conduct first phase
BY MARK ROSMAN Staff Writer Tri Town News
Jackson officials have taken the first step toward determining whether
sharing services with or consolidating Jackson's fire districtsmight serve
the community better than the present system of four separate fire
districts. A legal notice published in a local daily newspaper last week
is soliciting firms to bid on a job "to prepare a SHARE grant
application and conduct a feasibility study to determine whether shared
services and/or the consolidation of Jackson Township fire districts into
one unified fire district will best serve the township." Proposals
for the job will be submitted to the township, opened and read at 11
a.m.April 16.At present, Jackson is divided into four fire districts. Each
district is served by a board of commissioners and a fire company. The
operation of a fire district is supported by an assessment that appears on
a property owner's property tax bill.
The 2007 tax rate in each fire district follows:
• Fire District 1 - 16 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. The owner of a home assessed at the township average of $150,000 in Fire District 1 paid about $240 in fire district taxes in 2007. The owner of a home assessed at $250,000 in Fire District 1 paid about $400 in fire district taxes. The owner of a home assessed at $350,000 in Fire District 1 paid about $560 in fire district taxes.
• Fire District 2 - 10.1 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. The owner of a home assessed at the township average of $150,000 in Fire District 2 paid about $151 in fire district taxes in 2007. The owner of a home assessed at $250,000 in Fire District 2 paid about $252 in fire district taxes. The owner of a home assessed at $350,000 in Fire District 2 paid about $353 in fire district taxes.
• Fire District 3 - 17.9 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. The owner of a home assessed at the township average of $150,000 in Fire District 3 paid about $268 in fire district taxes in 2007. The owner of a home assessed at $250,000 in Fire District 3 paid about $447 in fire district taxes. The owner of a home assessed at $350,000 paid about $626.
• Fire District 4 - 14.1 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. The owner of a home assessed at the average of $150,000 in District 4 paid about $211 in taxes in 2007. The owner of a home assessed at $250,000 paid about $352. The owner of a home assessed at $350,000 in District 4 paid about $493.
Township Administrator Phil Del Turco said Jackson is taking advantage of an opportunity provided by the state Department of Community Affairs to examine shared services and programs. The township is looking into shared services and programs with the school district. Del Turco said the process would be twofold: in the initial step, a feasibility study would be conducted to develop information about shared services or programs between two entities (i.e., the township and the fire districts). Pending those findings, shared services and/or programs could be implemented. Del Turco noted that in the present case involving the planned study of Jackson's fire districts, the township is not at the implementation stage. He said that during this process, "we will want to coordinate and communicate with the fire districts. That is critical."
Lakehurst Fire Co. is in
hot water
Volunteer Department
Desperate For Members
APP By MATT PAIS STAFF WRITER March
22, 2008
Times are tough for the Lakehurst Fire Company. With a core group
of just five reliable responders, the borough's all-volunteer department
is desperately seeking to boost its ranks and avoid finding themselves in
an emergency situation with insufficient manpower. "When you only
have a handful of people, it gets real tough," said Jason Sewall, who
joined the department two years ago and now serves as its president. The
company's roster lists 20 members, but at least 10 of those are
non-active, "life-members," who come to meetings and events, but
do not respond to calls. Of the rest, only five members generally respond
to calls. The result is "very unhealthy," Sewall said, and
potentially unsafe for firefighters and residents. For years, the company
has had a policy of automatic mutual aid response with members of the
nearby Navy Lakehurst Fire Company, but the arrangement has its limits.
The base's squad has similar agreements with other towns and if an
emergency is reported first in Jackson, Plumsted or other neighboring
town, there is often no one to back up the borough's department.
Fire Chief Vernon Spoon said the thin ranks often make it difficult for him to effectively command a scene and make adhering to the rule of "two-in, two-out," — whereby for every two firefighters entering a structure there are two outside waiting to take their place — nearly impossible. "Once you make your switch, you can't effectively regroup because they have to head right back in," Spoon said. The lack of members also means less people available for vehicle extrications, a call the department often fields for accidents along the busy Route 70 corridor running through the center of the borough. "It depends on how involved an accident is, but the worse it is, the more people you need. And we don't always have that," Spoon said. Looking long-term at the future of a department that handles on average 100 calls annually, Sewall said he worries about getting caught in a situation where lives of either residents or firefighters are on the line and there aren't enough hands on deck to answer the call. "It doesn't leave us anyone for rescue and intervention," he said.
Hopes were high that the deparment would see a resurgence in volunteerism late last year when it moved into a new $2.1 million emergency service complex on Proving Ground Road that it shares with the local First Aid squad. Three new recruits signed up for the department around that time, but only one will complete the Ocean County Fire Academy and become a full-fledged member. When Spoon joined the department eight years ago, there were two or three times as many active members. A variety of factors have contributed to the declining ranks, including long-time borough families moving out of the area, but two factors seem to stand out. In 2001, then-chief Robert Morris was suspended by township officials who had already stripped him of his duties as township administrator and clerk for what they deemed "official misconduct." A year later, he was indicted by an Ocean County Grand Jury for misapplying government property in connection with allegations that he used a borough fire truck to dig a well on his own property.
Morris pleaded not guilty to the charges and completed a pre-trial intervention program but the fallout from the suspension caused several members to resign, Spoon said. Other members have left to volunteer in neighboring Manchester over what Sewall describes as toxic culture of small-town politics where disagreements are almost always exaggerated and sometimes fabricated. "People get to the point where they say, "Forget it. I don't want to deal with this,' " Sewall said. The department is now seeking not only new volunteer firefighters, but also residents to donate their time to help with non-emergency tasks like book-keeping and organizing fundraisers. "A fire department is a corporation, it's a nonprofit, but there still is a lot of business stuff that needs to be done," Sewall said.
Mayor’s Private Residential
Communities Advisory Board ...March
6, 2008 
EMS: The contract with Quality Medical Transport is in place. Its service from 6AM to 6PM and backup of the First Aid Squad in the evenings begins March 16. Two of the three rigs will be stationed where the MONOC rigs have been ─ on Kierych Memorial Drive alongside of Johnson Park and at the Department of Public Works facility near Town Hall. The location of the third rig is being determined. The new advisory committee on EMS to the township, co-chaired by Dennis Lafer of Westlake and Ken Bressi, held its first meeting. At this Private Residential Communities meeting, on behalf of the EMS advisory committee, Dennis Lafer obtained a commitment from Mayor Seda to provide the EMS committee with monthly reports on response times according to agreed upon specifications. The Township is still having problems with its computer system generating the reports without a lot of hand labor. Efforts are actively underway to resolve those problems.
FIRE SERVICES: The process of re-bidding the contract for a study of the combination of fire districts is advancing
Jackson Fire District 3 Vote
Voters approved Fire District 3's $2,255,580 tax levy in support of a $2,541,579 budget. The length of service retirement program was also approved 96-28. Clifford R. Jordan defeated Edward J. Logan and Jess P. Kalapos for a three year term 88-32-27.
Jackson Fire District 3 Vote
SERVES: Northeast Jackson
THE STAKES: One three-year term on Board of Fire Commissioners. Voters also will decide on a $2,255,580 tax levy in support of a $2,541,579 budget, and whether to establish a Length of Service Award Program.
THE CANDIDATES: Clifford R. Jordan; Jess P. Kalapos; Edward J. Logan, seeking second term. Further information about the candidates was not available.
REFERENDUM: Shall the district establish a Length of Service Award Program? The program would increase the tax rate by 0.4 cents per $100 of assessed value.
TAX IMPACT: If the tax levy and the LOSAP are approved, the fire district tax rate would increase from 17.8 cents per $100 of assessed value to an estimated 19.4 cents per $100. The annual fire tax on an average home assessed at $150,660 would be $292.28.
POLLING PLACE: 200 Kierych Memorial Drive
POLLING HOURS: 2 to 9 p.m.
Council awards EMS pact
2/14/08 JACKSON- Township Council members have awarded an emergency medical services transport contract to Quality Medical Transport Inc., a Beachwood ambulance service. The contract was voted upon at the council's meeting on Feb. 11. Quality Medical Transport will serve the residents of Jackson during the daytime hours and the Jackson Volunteer First Aid Squad will continue to provide coverage during the evening and overnight hours. Quality Medical Transport will provide backup service for the volunteer first aid squad and will provide three ambulances instead of the two that were in town in the past. There will be a 30-day clause in the contract which will allow Jackson officials to cancel the service if the firm cannot perform its duties. According to a proposal provided by the firm, Quality Medical Transport will collect for its services only from the insurance company of the patient and will work for free if the patient has no insurance coverage. Council members Scott Martin and Angelo Stallone and council President Ann Updegrave voted to award the contract to Quality Medical Transport. Councilman Jason Gudaitis voted no.
Councilwoman Emily Ingram, who could not attend the Feb. 11 meeting due to a previous commitment, said her choice was to award the contract to QualityMedical Transport. Martin read a statement from Ingram in which the councilwoman said, "Emergency medical service is extremely vital to the health of Jackson residents and with proper internal control I believe QualityMedical Transport can provide efficient service. My request would be to have Quality Medical Transport submit monthly reports to the township administrator and to the selected ad-hoc committee detailing the response times as well as any issues that have occurred." Ingram also asked that an executive from Quality Medical Transport attend a town meeting on a quarterly basis to discuss matters of concern with municipal officials and residents. =During an earlier caucus meeting council members discussed the idea of naming an emergency medical services oversight committee that would consist of two or three residents and possibly an adviser from the Jackson Police Department and from the volunteer first aid squad who would oversee the provision of emergency medical services.
In order to provide a permanent oversight committee the mayor would have to amend the administrative code, Updegrave said. She suggested two residents, Kenneth Bressi and Dennis Lafer, who could be on the committee with Gudaitis. Gudaitis suggested a maximum of a five-member committee. Mayor Mark Seda recommended that the oversight committee should have access to Quality Medical Transport's response times. Township Attorney George Gilmore said he believes the committee should be permanent at this point. The oversight committee would have no real power except to observe the job being done by Quality Medical Transport and to advise municipal officials, he said. The council members did not vote on whether there will be an emergency medical services oversight committee. That decision may be made at a future meeting of the council. When comments from the public were taken resident John Walters said he was disappointed there was not more discussion about the alternatives. He recommended that the volunteer first aid squad remain in the 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. slot because it strengthens the program for the squad's younger members. "The township should support the first aid squad with more than $20,000," he said, adding that he favored having Quality Medical Transport provide the daytime coverage.
Martin said he was asked by first aid squad officers to move the end time for coverage by the volunteer squad to 5 a.m. instead of 6 a.m. Martin voted to award the emergency medical services contract to QualityMedical Transport. He said he received positive recommendations about the firm. He noted that the firm has received several awards and will back up the first aid squad volunteers. Updegrave and Stallone also voted in favor of awarding the contract to Quality Medical Transport. Gudaitis cast the only no vote and said he wanted an emergency medical services oversight committee in place. Updegrave said she visited the first aid squad and was pleased to say that Quality Medical Transport can provide Jackson with the services that are needed. The times that the first aid squad will provide coverage will have to be worked out with representatives of Quality Medical Transport and she said she believes that can be done.
"I feel Quality Medical Transport deserves to be given a chance based on its background, its recommendations, its qualifications and its communication with the first aid squad," she said. No date was given for when Quality Medical Transport will take over daytime responses in the community. At the present time daytime responses in Jackson are provided by MONOC. Quality Medical Transport will provide what is referred to as Basic Life Support services when it is dispatched to a call. MONOC will continue to provide what is referred to as Advanced Life Support services when those services are required on a particular call for emergency medical services. The council declined to institute a municipal emergency services unit that would have operated under the auspices of the Jackson Police Department.
JACKSON TOWNSHIP COUNCIL DATE: FEBRUARY 11, 2008 *A*G*E*N*D*A* POSTED 072R-08 REJECT PROPOSALS RECEIVED FOR A FEASIBILITY STUDY FOR SHARED SERVICES AND/OR CONSOLIDATION OF FIRE DISTRICTS AND AUTHORIZE THE RE-ADVERTISEMENT AND ACCEPTANCE OF PROPOSALS FOR SAME
STRUCTURAL FIRE KNOCKED DOWN QUICKLY
2/7/08 -A working structure fire was knocked down quickly by Fire District No 3 firefighters. The dispatch came in around 12:05 pm Friday reporting a structure fire on N Hope Chapel Rd. District 3 Firefighters stationed at the S. Hope Chapel Firehouse (District 1) quickly responded along with the Fire Official who was also at the station. Fire Official Frank McDonnell was first due and reported fire coming from the B division of the ranch house. Firefighters Jay Zimmerman and Lt Ed Moore arriving shortly after with unit 5708 stretched 1-3/4 hand line to division B side. Neighbors reported that their maybe occupants home and entrapped. Fire Chief Ken Byrnes arrived and assumed Incident Command . Lt Moore prior to arrival of other incoming units, knowing there may be entrapment, by himself gained entry and knocked down the fire in the kitchen area and did a quick search for the occupants as Firefighter Zimmerman operated the pump. Units 5511 and 5505 arrived soon after and assisted with suppression, accountability and ventilation. The occupants were found not to be home at the time of the fire but 2 cats were missing in which a search by firefighters resulted in a negative find. There were no injuries to firefighters. The cause was investigated by Jackson Fire Official McDonnell, Ocean County Fire Marshals Office and Jackson Police Detective Scott Conover who determined the cause to be accidental and origin related to the dishwasher.
Council Puts Off Vote On New EMS Provider
By Lauren Puglisi
Jackson Times 2/1/08
After a four-hour public meeting last Wednesday, members of the Town Council opted to wait on voting for an EMS service provider for Jackson Township. That decision is likely to come at the next town meeting on February 11. At issue is emergency response times and ensuring the township is staffed with emergency personnel 24 hours a day. Currently, the Jackson Volunteer First Aid Squad in on hand from 6 p.m. to 5 a.m., while MONOC (Monmouth Ocean Hospital Service Corporation), a paid service, covers calls from 5 a.m. to 6 p.m., when most volunteers are at their day jobs. Lagging response times have had officials looking at a change. A proposal to create a paid squad managed by the township was abandoned. Now, township officials are discussing what service should take MONOC's place, if any. Mayor Mark Seda arranged the special meeting with the hopes of educating the public about alternate service providers. The hope is to supplement the efforts of Jackson's volunteer first aid squads and improve slow response times. "It is my job to address the issues concerning Jackson's problem with poor response times. The proposal for an inhouse service is just one of the many options that will be presented to deal with this issue," Seda said. Public Safety Director Matthew Kunz gave a presentation supporting Seda's proposal to create a new community service officer, which would operate under the auspice of the Township Police Department, to oversee a new municipal emergency medical service during the day.
According to Kunz, this new service would cost the township approximately $250,000 to operate during its first year and $100,000 in the years to follow. Councilwoman Emily Ingram had the support of many attendees at the meeting in saying that the public would have benefited from having an itemized budget list detailing where that money would be spent. "This presentation looks like a commercial to me. An overall summary of your services does not tell me a story," Ingram said. Representatives from MONOC gave a follow-up presentation and also pledged to meet with the council on a monthly basis to improve the town's present response time problems. "In Jackson, the average response for … calls were within six minutes and 41 seconds, which shows that MONOC does not have an increasingly slow response time," Jeff Bane a MONOC representative said. "If the township feels that this is a problem, in the future I will pledge to meet with the council on a monthly basis to improve the town's present response time concerns." Quality Medical representatives Sal and Deborah Murante presented township officials with a new emergency service option plan. If Quality is chosen as the township's EMS provider, they said, there will be no charge to the town and at least three ambulances will be provided to Jackson daily for a full 24 hours. "In the case that the township needs an extra ambulance, I will know and send them on my own. The same goes for response times. Every month I will meet with the council to go over the response times for each service that we provide to insure the fastest, most accurate times," Murante said.
Volunteers from the Jackson First Aid Squad concluded the night's
presentation by showing their continued willingness to serve the township. That was something township officials took to heart.
"We have zero interest in going with a service provider that will force
Jackson First Aid out. The council wants the designate a provider that will work
alongside the volunteers so they can continue to do what they love,"
Council Vice President Gudaitis said. At the conclusion of the public forum portion of the meeting, Ingram and
Councilman Scott Martin said they were ready to vote in favor of Quality Medical
for the township's new EMS service provider. "After hearing Quality's presentation tonight and speaking with stellar
Quality Medical references, this EMS provider appears to be the best service
with no cost to the town," said Martin. "I also really like the idea
of having three ambulances or more provided by Quality for the township." However, Councilman Angelo Stallone, Council President Ann Updegrave, and
Council Vice President Jason Gudaitis all opted to defer to voting to the
township's following council meeting. "I would like to wait on voting and allow each service to provide the
council further information that was not displayed to the public tonight,"
Updegrave said. The vote is expected to take place on February 11 at 7:30 p.m. in the
township's municipal building.
Official: Hire first aid
squad in Jackson
300 people attend meeting
Matthew D. Kunz faced a tough crowd Wednesday night. The public safety director, still weak from a recent bout with pneumonia,
gave a lengthy presentation to some 300 people who attended a special Township
Council meeting to debate the future of Jackson's emergency medical services. His presentation recommended what the mayor has been proposing for several
months: that the town establish a paid municipal squad within the Police
Department to provide first aid during the day. Councilwoman Emily Ingram, a certified public accountant, was the first in a
line of people to criticize Kunz's presentation, saying it was appropriate for
grammar school children but not for adults. She asked why Kunz did not provide
an itemized budget to prove his contention that the municipal squad would
sustain itself financially. "It looks like a little bit of a commercial, to be honest," Ingram
said of the PowerPoint slide show. "I want to see the numbers, and they got
to make sense." Currently Monmouth-Ocean Hospital Service Corp. (MONOC) provides emergency
medical services for Jackson every day from 5 a.m. until 6 p.m., dedicating two
ambulances to the town, at a cost of about $1,300 per year. The town's volunteer
squad provides emergency medical services from 6 p.m. until 5 a.m.
However, Mayor Mark A. Seda has said switching to a municipal squad during the day would improve first aid response times. The public safety director, during his speech, noted that Lakewood, Toms River and other area towns maintain their own paid squads. Startup costs for the squad would run about $251,000, Kunz said. After that, it would amount to about $100,000 per year, plus the cost of salaries and a third-party billing service, he said. Ingram was not the only one to question those numbers. "We're the taxpayers," said Louis Barth, 73, of Sawgrass Street. "What guarantee will you give us that we the taxpayers will not be laying out money for this program, above and beyond what you're taking in?" Others wondered why the town does not contract with Quality Medical Transport Inc., which has submitted a proposal offering to provide three ambulances, 24 hours a day, at no cost to the township.
EMS proposal to be discussed January 23 at 7pm
CSO Program (Prepared by M. Kunz, Public Safety Director)
Debate On EMS Services Ongoing
Meeting Planned January 23 To Discuss Options: Quality Medical Is
Frontrunner
By Lauren Puglisi Jackson Times 1/11/08
The Jackson Township Council will hold a special meeting at 7 p.m. on January 23 to discuss bringing a paid EMS service to town. The meeting will serve as a public forum for members of the community to learn about emergency medical service (EMS) options officials hope will benefit overall health and safety in Jackson. The intent, officials have stressed, is not to replace the township's volunteer first aid companies. Rather, it is to assist them by providing added emergency response service during hours when the volunteers have traditionally been understaffed. Councilman Scott Martin said the new service provider will operate from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Whether the township will contract with an outside agency - two are currently on the table - or create its own EMS service is still under discussion. Mayor Mark Seda has suggested plans that would call for the town's current daytime EMS provider, MONOC (Monmouth Ocean Hospital Service Corporation), to be eliminated. Instead, a new community service officer under the auspice of the township Police Department would be created to oversee a new municipal emergency medical service, funded fully by the town. If the township opts to contract with another provider, however, that plan may never come to fruition. On December 21, an ad-hoc subcommittee created to study the issue met with representatives from MONOC and Quality Medical, the two third-party services under consideration. Ken Bressi, a member of the committee, said the meeting brought residents from of all walks of life together to discuss EMS issues. One thing most agreed on: An in-house service is not the way to go.
"All people in attendance commonly decided against starting a new in-house EMS service," Bressi said. However, Business Administrator Phil Del Turco said that the question of whether the township will provide EMS services on its own is still up in the air. "The purpose for this change is to ultimately improve response times within Jackson. The mayor's open-forum presentation will detail different emergency providers to the council and to the public of Jackson Township," Del Turco said. To the end of improving response times, Bressi said discussions will be ongoing. "Since response times have been such an issue in Jackson," Bressi said, "talks of putting a committee together to calculate the reasoning behind slow response times is an ongoing possibility. I think this way no one person will be blamed and emergency calls will be monitored on a continual basis." Although there has yet to be a final decision made within the entire council, Martin has given his endorsement to Quality Medical. He said that if Quality is chosen as the township's EMS provider, there will be no charge to the town and at least three ambulances will be provided (more if needed) during the targeted time period. In contrast, MONOC would cost taxpayers up to $150,000 for their services, Martin said. "After doing research and speaking with stellar Quality Medical references, this EMS provider appears to be the best service with no cost to the town," Martin said. "I am still open-minded to other service providers, which will be presented during the mayor's meeting, but the reason I am so impressed with Quality Medical is because they are willing to supply back-up services to the township's first aid volunteer squad." The vote is still pending, but other council members have started to weigh in too.
Councilwoman Emily Ingram said she has done research on both MONOC and Quality Medical, and feels that Quality Medical is a service that goes above and beyond other providers. "Jackson residents have major complaints about bettering EMS response times and my research has shown me that Quality Medial has guaranteed that they take pride in the fastest times," Ingram said. Although Martin, Ingram and other members of the ad-hoc committee are leaning towards Quality Medical, a final decision has not yet been made. This in part led to Seda's decision to hold a meeting detailing the use of three separate provider options. Seda announced at last Thursday's council meeting that he would be holding a meeting to outline the pros and cons of going with MONOC, Quality Medical or a townshiprun EMS service provider. Township Clerk Ann Marie Eden said during the course of the meeting, Seda will be available for questions from the public after giving a detailed presentation on EMS service providers. Seda said the governing body will be ready to go to a vote if all council members come to a consensus. Councilman Angelo Stallone agreed. "If the council feels comfortable to move forward with a new EMS provider after the mayor's presentation, we will," said Stallone. The mayor's EMS presentation will be held in the main auditorium at Jackson Liberty High School, 7 p.m. on January 23
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