Helmetta gets first ladder truck, and free of charge
South Brunswick firefighters donate truck after obtaining new one

PHOTO COURTESY OF HELMETTA FIRE DEPARTMENT The Helmetta Fire Department's new ladder truck, a 1982 American LaFrance, was donated by South Brunswick Township Fire District No. 1.

HELMETTA - Christmas came a couple months early for the borough's fire department this year.

The department received a 1982 American LaFrance 100-foot ladder truck, courtesy of South Brunswick Township Fire District No. 1, out of Kendall Park, according to Helmetta Fire Chief Gregory Bennett.

Helmetta has never owned a ladder truck, according to Bennett, and with the proposed redevelopment of the abandoned snuff mill, the ladder is something the firefighters desperately need.

The borough's fire department has for some time sought to acquire a new quint, but financial constraints have made that purchase difficult, Bennett said. A quint is a newer design for fire apparatus, and incorporates the attributes of engines, which carry water and hoses and have a fire pump, with those of a truck, an aerial device with added ground ladders.

The Kendall Park Fire Department was able to replace its old ladder truck this year with a new quint. Bennett credited South Brunswick Fire District No. 1 Chairman James Pawlus and Assistant Fire Chief Timothy Corris as being especially helpful in making the donation possible. The Helmetta Fire Department had their new ladder truck delivered after South Brunswick put its quint in service.

Bennett said members of his department have already trained at the Middlesex County Fire Academy, Sayreville, in the use of the new ladder truck. The fire department plans to equip the new truck, and get it re-lettered to reflect its new ownership.

The truck, which will be designated as Ladder 36, should be in service in the coming weeks, Bennett said.

Highland Park-based developer Kaplan Companies is expected to build 225 age-restricted housing units on the site of the former Helme Tobacco Co., along with retail space and recreation areas. The housing will be five to six stories high, and currently the Helmetta Fire Department is unable to reach those upper floors.

"The new ladder will give us the ability to access the highest floors in case of a fire, which may necessitate rescue of trapped occupants," Bennett said. "The ladder truck … will bridge the gap between now and when the borough is able to order a new quint."

The new ladder is just the latest apparatus that the volunteer firefighters have been able to acquire through donation. East Brunswick donated a 1976 fire engine to the Helmetta department in 2001, and a tractor was also donated for the department's tanker. The department also owns a 1998 fire engine, which the town purchased, and two brush trucks acquired from Army surplus.

"The members of the Helmetta Fire Department would like again to thank the commissioners and members of South Brunswick Fire District No. 1, in Kendall Park, for their generous donation," Bennett said.