BY TOM CAIAZZA
Staff Writer
HOLMDEL – Township Administra-tor Christopher Schultz has proposed a strategy for fusing the township’s two autonomous fire companies under one command structure.
At Thursday’s Township Committee meeting, Schultz laid out a plan to create a single command structure that would set policy and run the operations of both the Holmdel Fire Company and the newly formed Holmdel Fire Rescue. The plan would allow for one fire chief with duties similar to that of a police chief; two deputy chiefs, one from each company; and assorted lower officers. The chief and the deputies would be chosen by a selection committee made up of two Township Committee members, the chief officer of an outside entity and one representative from each company.
Schultz said that the Township Committee will set the basic fire policy and the chief’s task would be to implement it. He likened it to a de facto township department and the chief’s role would be that of a department head. Schultz said that the township is responsible for fire operations and that this plan is a way to provide the best protection for the town.
Deputy Mayor Rocco Pascucci said it was a way to provide more protection.
“In the future there is always the possibility that things could change for these two companies,” Pascucci said. “So this is just to get us started, get us on the road to protecting the people.”
Richard Perrone, president of the Holmdel Fire Company, said that the company would welcome the Holmdel Fire Rescue into its company and allow them the chance to make that group their own. He said that two companies under one command are not necessary.
“We don’t need to reinvent the wheel,” Perrone said. “We’re not saying join us, we’re saying let’s just be one together. We would acknowledge and recognize their experience and put them right on board with us.”
Perrone went on to say that now should be a time of consolidation and not isolation between the township’s emergency services.
“We’re at a time now where the governor is saying consolidate, leverage your resources, don’t build silos,” Perrone said. “This is not a competition. If we want competition we’ll go join a bowling league or a baseball team. But I think they can come in, and it’s their company, it’s not our company.”
Schultz said that the issue of fire coverage has been on his radar for the three-plus years he has been the township administrator. At the present time, Holmdel contracts out to Middletown for added fire coverage. It is a cost that Schultz said should be spent within the town and not to outside interests. However, a deficit of volunteer firemen has kept that from becoming a reality, and the consolidation of the two companies resources could help relieve that strain.
“We need to have some direction,” Pascucci said. “This is done for one reason, to protect the people of Holmdel. I’m not saying you guys are not protecting but you could protect with more members. This is a mechanism that gives us a little more protection.”
Schultz said that combining the two companies under one command structure, like two police precincts in the same department, would allow for interoperability of equipment and better use of manpower.
Mike Simpson, the township’s emergency management coordinator, said that disputes between the two companies should be put aside for the betterment of the township’s services.
“People’s egos don’t come into this,” Simpson said. “It should be the protection of life and property for every resident and every business owner in Holmdel that should be the deciding factor.”
Simpson said that the decision must be made now.
“Whatever we do, we have to protect people out there now, not next year,” Simpson said. “If something happens tomorrow, who is responsible?”
The Township Committee is expected to move forward on this recommendation by the Oct. 5 meeting.