Sign a Petition, Reopen a Rescue Squad: St. John's Needs You Saturday

They've been closed since 2009, but they're not giving up.  (SJEMS) is on Saturday, March 17, from 11 am to 2 pm for Woodbridge residents to in support of returning the squad to the township's emergency calls map.

SJEMS President Joe Heintjes is hoping to last year. The shuttered Avenel Colonia squad was reopened for business in May, 2011 after a spontaneous petition drive forced the council to reconsider the squad's fate or have the issue decided by voters in a referendum. 

So far, Heintjes said, so good.

"I've been out speaking to groups, gauging sentiment, asking Fords residents if they want their local squad to be there to answer their calls," Heintjes said. 

It's been more than two years, but Heintjes said in his travels, he's gotten "very warm, positive support" from people in Fords and Keasbey, and throughout the township, to reopen SJEMS.

Now the squad needs signatures on the petition to force the issue, he said.

After the Avenel Colonia squad reopened last year, Heintjes thought it was just a matter of time for the St. John's squad to be returned to service. Negotiations with the council and representatives of Mayor John McCormac broke down over the summer, Heintjes said, and that's where the matter has stood.

"Members of the public have continued to press for the squad's restoration," Heintjes said.

"If enough support is received, the Board of Directors of SJEMS will begin the process of launching a grassroots effort with citizen volunteers" to broaden the petition signing to the entire township, and allow Woodbridge voters to make the decision on the squad's fate.

"We want to obtain the required number of signatures for the referendum," he said.

St. John's EMS is on 17 Corrielle Street in Fords. For more information, call 732-738-8380.