Township introduces rapid access key box measure

The Hopewell Township Committee voted unanimously July 5 to introduce an ordinance, scheduled for a public hearing and adoption vote July 19, under which commercial properties with an automatic fire sprinkler system or automatic fire alarm system would be required to install, within a year, rapid access key boxes for use by firefighters

By: John Tredrea
   The Hopewell Township Committee voted unanimously July 5 to introduce an ordinance, scheduled for a public hearing and adoption vote July 19, under which commercial properties with an automatic fire sprinkler system or automatic fire alarm system would be required to install, within a year, rapid access key boxes for use by firefighters.
   If adopted, the ordinance would not apply to "owner-occupied one- or two-family dwellings," township attorney John Bennett said. "It would apply to multi-family dwellings — I don’t know if we have any of them in the township now or not," he added.
   Under the ordinance, a property’s rapid access key box, which would be placed in a location chosen by the township fire official, would contain keys to all locked doors on the property, and keys to mechanical rooms, elevators, fences and other areas.
   Also in the box would be a floor plan of the building and a list of what materials, including chemicals, are stored in it. The rapid access key boxes could be opened with a master key carried by officers of the local fire companies.
   Township fire official Jason Belmont told the Township Committee that requiring the key boxes would enable firefighters to combat blazes more quickly and efficiently, reducing property damage and risk of injury to firefighters and others as a result. Mr. Belmont noted that an ordinance requiring the boxes has been in effect in Pennington for over a year.