Holmdel Residents Meet To Discuss Fire Concerns

HOLMDEL, NJ — Holmdel's firefighting problem continues to be a topic in the community: A Holmdel resident named Kin Gee will give a presentation at an open meeting hosted by Citizens for Informed Land Use (CILU) on Friday, March 15 to discuss growing fire safety concerns in Holmdel.

On Jan. 30, a million-dollar home on Blue Hills Drive was destroyed by a fire. Firefighters did not arrive on scene until 20 minutes after the initial 911 call went out at 1:31 p.m., getting there at 1:52 p.m. Currently, Holmdel Fire and Rescue Company #2 is the only fire station serving Holmdel and they are located in north Holmdel, often miles away from many homes in the 18-square-mile Township.

"We are just really concerned about the current situation in Holmdel," Gee told Patch. "Holmdel is a wealthy community and fire safety should not be considered a luxury."

Holmdel Twp. paid to have a fire safety study done and its findings were released to the public this winter; you can read the report on the Township's website. Its findings are dismal: Currently, there are only about 35 volunteer firefighters in Holmdel; there used to be 65 - 75 several years ago. Two of Holmdel's existing fire trucks badly need to be replaced. Also, perhaps most alarmingly, the report found that Holmdel's population was not likely to provide sufficient volunteer firefighters, and that Holmdel should strongly consider a professional fire department.

"Based upon my review of the nature of your community and its population, I would suggest that you plan on developing a career department, supplemented by a volunteer support staff, as soon as possible," wrote Dr. Harry Carter, PhD, a fire protection consultant, in his report.

"Holmdel Township is a community in which most residents work out of town. The U.S. Census Bureau (2016) indicated that the mean travel time to work is 32.6 minutes. This places many residents at places too far away from the community to respond to emergencies in a timely fashion," wrote Dr. Carter. "Anecdotal information gained from our interviews indicates that many people commute to places that are further away than 38.2 minutes. It was stated that many people commute by train to New York City. Others commute to Northern New Jersey, and a number of other places."

"This fact will at some point in the future lead your community in the direction of some form of combination of full-time career fire department as supplemented by a staff of volunteers," he recommended. "I say this because of the number of people who are available to respond on a regular basis. I want to suggest that you begin to prepare for it now. Form a committee and start to develop how you want to see it develop. Let me suggest that you get out in front of this issue and work to control it. It will stand a greater chance of success if you hire your own people to staff the career positions."

This prompted Holmdel Mayor Eric Hinds to declare at a Jan. 29 Township Committee meeting that Holmdel would not be moving to a paid fire department. Paid fire departments can be enormously expensive, as taxpayers not only have to pay firefighters, but also provide health insurance and pensions.

Gee said that while he understood why Hinds said that, he also said such a declaration was "hasty" to make.

"Maybe we should consider a hybrid of volunteer and paid," he mused. When asked by Patch, Gee said the ideal age bracket for firefighters is between 18-25 and that he personally is too old to volunteer.

"Holmdel has a low percentage of the population in that age bracket and not everyone's dream is to be a firefighter," he said.

Holmdel's original fire house, Fire Company 1 on Main Street, shut down in 2013 after a dispute with the Township. Holmdel Twp. promises to open a new, centrally-located fire station and Township Committeeman Rocco Pascucci said its location would be announced "very soon." When Bell Works was Bell Labs/Lucent, they used to have their own small fire department in house. It is unclear if firefighting facilities there are still up to par.

In the wake of both the Blue Hills Drive fire and the findings of that study, Gee has formed a new Holmdel citizens group called FAST –Fire Action Safety Today.

Any concerned Holmdel homeowner is welcome to their meeting next Friday, where they will go over the fire safety report and discuss options.

"This meeting is not political; I'm not trying to run for anything. I am just a concerned Holmdel homeowner," said Gee.

FAST will be making a presentation on the findings of the fire study at Citizens For Informed Land Use's annual meeting/"pot luck” on March 15 at Holmdel’s Senior/Community Center, 6 Crawfords Corner Road. This meeting is open to the general public. The potluck is at 6 p.m. and the fire study presentation is expected to start at 7:30 p.m.

Ongoing Patch reporting on the firefighting situation in Holmdel:

Fire Destroys Holmdel Home On Blue Hills Drive

Holmdel Fire Shows Need For More Firefighters, Deputy Mayor Says