Fire Horn

[Guest]

With the water tower coming down there is discussion according to the meeting notes that the horn will be relocated to the firehouse. Considering Evans and Brainerd drive as well as S. Main homes the relocation to this area could have a signifigant impact on quality of life. I would encourage everyone to attend the next TC meeting and speak out against this proposal.

[Jersey Dad]

[guest343]

I dont mind the horn. It is a small inconvience.It reminds me that there are people in my town who volunteer to risk their lives for me and mine.

[Guest]

Isn't the concept of a "Fire Horn" sort of archaic in this age of SMS and portable electronics?

[Guest]

Where it is now on the water tower is a small inconvenience that most people ignore. However, if relocated to the firehouse it will be extremly loud for those residents in the area.

I agree false alarms are an issue, but the fire dept. has to respond. I don't see why we need a horn any more.

[Guest]

[Press]

Or all you towns people can put your money where your mouth is, and support a paid fire/first aid squad...

[Guest]

I have a better idea, volunteer. Then when the whistle blows, you can respond to the call with the other firefighters, instead of going back to sleep.

[Guest]

[Guest343]

"Having a paid fire department or first aid squad is ridiculous and I was a former first aid squad member until family obligations became too much. Our squads do spend a tremendous amount of time and need to be thanked. The horn issue should not be any type of statement or issue on the squad itself. "

Why is the idea of a paid squad or fire department ridiculous? If you are a former volunteer squad member who left because of family obligations then you know that every surronding muncipality has paid services at least 5 days a week.

It should be the active volunteers decision whether or not the fire whistle or first aid horn is no longer utilized. They are the one's who sacrifice their time and risk their lives for this community. If nothing else the fire whistle and first aid horn serve as a reminder that there are members of our community that leave their loved one's in the middle of night toserve the greater good. Next you will want to ban emergency vehicles from using sirens after certain hours because it is disruptive.

The fire whistle wakes up your 2 year old?Suck it up.

[Guest]

What venom!! Seriosuly, people this board is going down hill.

A paid squad costs signifigant dollars and our town cannot financially support a paid squad. The costs are more than any ballpark or library. Our town is also smaller than those who have paid squads.

In addition, it also takes away from the work and effort that our volunteers are putting in and have out in. Calling for a paid squad is disrespectful to those individuals who are on the squads and have been.

You are making enormous jumps from a fire horn to actual criticism of the squad.

You're calling for support and at the same time basically tossing our volunteers aside with the statement that we need paid squads. You can't defend the horn on the premise it validates volunteers and then in the same breathe say the volunteers should be replaced by a paid squad.

I have never lacked support and find it insulting that questions about the relocation of the horn are being portrayed as anti-first aid or fire. What I have asked and believe is fair is for the horn to either be maintained perhaps on Rt 130 or on a tower at the police station rather than moved to closer proximity to residential homes where the volume will be much louder.

The issue is simply a horn and noise, not sirens on the trucks, emergency lights in vehicles or volunteer vs paid.

A solution on the horn does not mean our volunteers are disrespected. Any person seeing the trucks going through town knows the squad is responding. In addition, I rarely if ever hear the horn if I am out at the swim club or with my relatives on Washington Dr.

However, your claims for a paid squad are exactly that disrespecting our volunteers.

[Guest343]

I dont want to perpuate the negativety of these posts. My post did not insinuate any "volunteer vs. paid" battle. Fire and EMS are essential services. Everything must be done by the township to support the volunteers who provide these services. If the volunteers themselves come to the town(as they have in our town) and indicate that they can no longer guarantee safe response times then the township must assist the volunteers themselves in establishing paid personell to supplement the existing volunteers. The township cannot ignore them to focus on more trendy issues such as the library or the water tower. Paid services are happening everywhere including muncipalities smaller than Cranbury and with much narrower tax bases. Princeton, East Windsor, West Windsor, Monroe, Robbinsville,Hightstown,Spotswood, Helmetta,and Jamesburg are all local examples.

If there is a fire or someone is not breathing on main street there should be no question that under normal circumastances an ambulance or Fire Truck can respond with adequate personell and equipment within an appropriate period of time.
This is an important issue which should not be ignored.

[Jeff M.]

I believe your comments are based on comments made here not on official report or what was discussed at town meetings. No department has come to the town and said they cannot guarantee a safe response with a volunteer squad. Some on the TC and in the office may want people to think that, but it is not the truth. This stems from the fire department and EMS raising the concern over the paid township employees who are assigned to respond and paid to do so. These individuals for one reason or another were not doing so (and have been since it went before the TC). If people are counted on and are not showing up it presents an issue. Which is what the department was saying. That would be the same for a paid squad or volunteer squad with volunteer members not showing up. In such instances the department for safety as well as tax payer concern has an obligation to raise the issue. However, we cannot then draw a line to that and state our departments cannot respond.

Our squads are responding to calls and are doing so with coverage. In the event that there are multiple calls we have backups from other towns just as we back those towns up.

All of the towns you mention are larger than Cranbury with the exception of Jamesburg and Helmetta. In addition, Helmetta, Jamesburg and Spotswood are all volunteer and Robbinsville has been struggling with the union representing the fire department for years trying to reign in their size and budget.

The Jamesburg Fire Department is located in Middlesex County, New Jersey. The company is all volunteer and operates out of one station. The primary cover area consists of the Borough and the New Jersey Turnpike. http://www.jamesburgfd.com/Home_Page_.html

Covering a service area of 2.3 square miles, we proudly and voluntarily serve the 8,200 citizens of the Borough of Spotswood. http://www.spotswoodfire.org/

Helmetta Volunteer Fire Department, Station 36, proudly protects 1500 people living in an area of 1 square mile. We operate out of 1 station that protects a primarily residential area.
http://departments.firehouse.com/dept/HelmettaNJ/

I looked into the costs at one point when the issue was first raised and after discussion with a good friend who is in the Fire Department. You are talking about a few million annually to support paid services and because Cranbury is non-active like a Princeton, Hamilton, etc... we are less likely to attract the staff we would want for these departments.

[Guest343]

Jeff M, I appreciate your interest in this topic. You failed to address the EMS side of the issue which is what I was refering to also.
Every muncipallity mentioned including Spotswood,Jamesburg, and Helmetta has paid EMS service at least five days a week. Robbinsville and West Windsor have a hybrid Fire and EMS Service. Robbinsville operates 24-7. West Windsor has career EMS 7 days a week. The statement that you made about Robbinsville having problems realing in the budget due to the union is not accurate at all.
Cranbury with its daytime business population ,12.5 square miles, and traffic, is on par ,if not larger than several of the muncipalities(Hightstown,Jamesburg,Spotswood, Helmetta)
The problem of dwindling volunteer emergency service workers(term emergency service encompassing EMS and fire) is not unique to Cranbury. It is rampant throughout the state. Its just that other towns, including the smaller one's that I have mentioned have chosen to bite the bullet and address it before someone dies.
The volunteers are awesome. They are the backbone of the community. Take the time to ask one of them(especially a member of the First Aid Squad) how they are doing with their daytime response times. Ask them if they think there should be paid EMS during the week? Ask if there have been times when there have been people critically injured or ill and an ambulance has had to come from another town 20 minutes plus later?
Again this is not unique to Cranbury. It is just unique that Cranbury seems to ignore it.

[Jeff M.]

With all due respect you're wrong and given the problems including law suits between parties in Robbinsville I am not about to go getting into it here.

I confirmed that Jamesburg has over 6000 residents so they are larger than Cranbury (actually surprised me). Second, they are volunteer.

About Jamesburg First Aid Squad, Inc.:
Jamesburg First Aid Squad, Inc. proudly protects 6500 people living in an area of approx. 6 square miles. We operate out of one stations that protect a primarily residential area. Our department is a private department whose members are on a volunteer status.

Department Type: All Volunteer

http://departments.firehouse.com/dept/jamesburgnj

Spotswood supplemented because they could not get a full volunteer squad for EMS. Helmetta never had a first aid squad their residents volunteered on Jamesburg's squad. However, that all changed recently when they went to Spotswood. Here is a good article on the change.

http://ebs.gmnews.com/news/2009/0521/front_page/003.html

Hightstown's EMS services are provided by Robbinsville.

Again, you cannot compare Cranbury to WW, Princeton, Robbinsville, or other larger towns, the size, population and stretch is much different. That's akin to comparing WW to Trenton.

While I am not involved on the squads I am very good friends with members of both and can confirm that none of them with perhaps the exception of a few members here or there, but none I know of personally want to go with paid people. They have stated that they like the idea of town employees being used, but not going to paid employees.

We also have backup coverage from Monroe and Plainsboro just like the above shared services, which is where our town would go first because that would be the closest economical way to do it.

[Guest]

By the way, on Robbinsville, there was always a fire district vote on the budget by residents, not sure if that still happens. And I am not saying either party was right or wrong in their arguements so I don't want to be seen as taking sides on either one as I do not know enough about the budgets or staffing. Only that there were contentions on both sides of the arguement and it was not an easy situation for either party.