BELMAR — The borough administration is considering closing the 135-year-old Union Fire Company, which has been under suspension since January, citing low membership and incomplete training of fire company members.
Fire Administrator Eugene “Chip” Cavanagh, during the workshop of the council’s Dec. 10 meeting, gave a presentation regarding the overall fire department standing, and suggested that the borough council move to close Union Fire Company in order to consolidate the fire department into its two other fire companies – Goodwill Fire Company and Hook & Ladder Fire Company.
However, members of Union Fire Company have disputed the borough’s assessment and taken umbrage with the way the issue has been handled.
“Not a single person was notified in our fire company,” Union Fire Company Vice President James Lorusso told The Coast Star. “We weren’t notified – they literally went behind our backs and did that.”
While the captains of the two other fire companies, Fire Chief Sean Pringle and First Assistant Fire Chief Robert Polluck, attended the council’s last meeting to voice their support of the proposed consolidation, no representative from Union Fire Company spoke at the meeting.
When asked why Union Fire Company was not made aware of the presentation prior to the meeting, Borough Administrator Kevin Kane told The Coast Star, “The meetings are publicly noticed in compliance with the Open Public Meetings Act and posted on the website.”
In an email to The Coast Star on Tuesday, Cavanagh said, “The meeting agenda was publicly advertised with the notation for a discussion on Union Fire Company for workshop. There was also a member of the Union Fire Company in the audience.”
According to Cavanagh’s presentation, the borough fire department is “in great shape” with 74 volunteers across its three fire companies, although he noted that overall volunteerism is on the decline across the country and cited the consolidation of Spring Lake’s fire companies last year.
“The entire fire department is made up of volunteers who are not paid, but who must meet the same requirements as paid firefighters,” Cavanagh said. “They must complete hours of extensive training before they can even put on turnout gear. Then, they must keep up their learned skills by training.”
According to Open Public Records Act (OPRA) requests, referenced in the Union Fire Company statement and verified by The Coast Star, the borough currently has 42 certified firefighters in the Belmar Fire Department.
When asked to explain the discrepancy between the 72 and 42 count, Cavanagh said, “These are the number of people who have signed up to join a company, not the number of firefighters.”
Kane further explained to The Coast Star that the larger number includes older members who are not considered “active” and do not respond to fires, but still contribute to the fire department at community events throughout the year.
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