Hoboken Doesn't Have Urge To Merge Fire Department With Jersey City: Officials

HUDSON COUNTY, NJ — After recent media reports suggested that officials were floating the idea of merging the Jersey City and Hoboken fire departments, Hoboken City Council members said they were against that idea on Monday — but officials in both cities say they're talking about more mutual aid.

[RELATED: Former Hoboken Fire Chief Crimmins Returns To Department After 2 Years Of Paid Leave]

Hudson County View had reported in March about an email between two Jersey City fire union presidents saying they were against a plan for their department to "take over" the Hoboken Fire Department.

The email was between Jersey City Fire Officers Local 1064 President Peter Nowak and Firefighters Local 1066 President Joseph Krajnik, the outlet reported.

At Monday's Hoboken council meeting, council candidate Paul Presinzano asked why the city was moving forward with a new public safety building if the Fire Department might be assumed by another city's department.

City Council members said this was unlikely, but there were talks of how the departments could help each other.

According to a story in Hudson County View, Councilman Michael Russo said, "We are not interested in doing any type of merger, any type of takeover, anything where we are going to lose the autonomy of our own fire department."

Hoboken Public Safety Director Ken Ferrante said in a budget hearing in March that the idea had come up in 2022, among discussions about how the departments could help each other, the outlet reported.

NJ.com then reported that the cities are talking because Jersey City is only permitted to help Hoboken if every working firefighter is attending to a fire. Creating a merger or mutual aid plan would make it easier for both cities to help each other.

On Wednesday, Jersey City spokesperson Kim Wallace-Scalcione said, "Yes, Mayor Bhalla and Mayor Fulop have discussed working together on fire safety because we can enhance safety for residents with better fire protection while saving taxpayer money — why would we not explore it?"

She added, "Discussions are ongoing, as there are still many steps that would need to happen, but the first is more substantial mutual aid and we have submitted paperwork to Trenton to start this process.”

Hoboken spokesperson Marilyn Baer said on Wednesday, "Fire departments from across Hudson County have been working under a mutual-aid agreement for decades, and last year, Hoboken and Jersey City administrations began discussing ways to better enhance mutual aid operations between the two cities."

She said, "The city of Hoboken is agreeable to continuing these conversations as we explore ways to continue to protect the public while reducing costs to the Hoboken taxpayers, but no agreement can be made without input from our fire department members and their unions."

In 1999, five towns in northern Hudson County combined their departments into one Regional Fire and Rescue.

Four-Alarm Fire

Meanwhile, Jersey City firefighters spent most of Wednesday battling a four-alarm fire on Orlean Avenue that forced people to flee a row of homes. NJ.com reported that 17 people escaped the blaze, and published photos of homeowners hugging their pets who were also saved.