Monroe fire, rescue squads’
new location
By tara petersen
Staff Writer

MONROE — Fire truck and rescue squad sirens may soon be heard within a few minutes of reporting an emergency in the western section of the township.

A new fire department and rescue squad building is proposed to be built along Centre Drive, off Forsgate Drive and Applegarth Road.

The building will be part of the township’s Fire District 3, headquartered at Buckelew Avenue and School House Road.

The new buildings are intended to augment rather than replace the services currently provided to the area. The rescue squad will occupy one of the four bays at the facility.

According to Chief Raymond LeBrun of Fire District 3, the main motivation for creating the new location is to be able to respond to emergencies in the area of the Rossmoor adult community more quickly.

"The response time, with personnel within the fire quarters, takes approximately 10 to 12 minutes on a good day, with green lights," he said.

Peter Lumia, chairman of the Board of Fire Commissioners for the district, said the new location will allow for a three-minute response time.

Township Councilman John Riggs said at Monday’s council meeting that the new firehouse and rescue squad site would be "servicing the [Forsgate] Industrial Complex, Rossmoor and Forsgate [Drive]/Possum Hollow Road area."

The council will vote on an ordinance at its meeting next Monday that would provide $1.1 million in bond money for the purchase of the Centre Drive property.

LeBrun said construction of new housing subdivisions has necessitated a new emergency facility.

"There are all those new developments over there that we can’t get to fast enough," he said.

In other news, Fire District 2 is hiring eight more firefighters so it will have full-time, paid coverage at all times instead of the current coverage of 12 hours a day. The district’s night shift is currently all volunteer.

Jim Carbin, a department captain in District 2, said his district has an approximate response time of four minutes, the maximum allowed by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA).

He also said the "response time is elevated" to around four to eight minutes at the outskirts of his coverage area, near Federal Road.

District 1 services the denser part of the township near Spotswood-Englishtown Road.

Paid coverage is from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., with the balance being staffed by volunteers.

District 1 is also building a supplemental facility near Avenue K which will be staffed by volunteers.

LeBrun noted that Monroe is very spread out, and Fire District 3 covers the largest area within the township — about 19 of the 42 total square miles.

"Our area is not like any other town, I can tell you that," he said.

Lumia estimated that construction of the new Centre Drive facility will begin next spring, and it is hoped to be completed by the end of 2004.