Florence merger helps emergency services

Chief: Response times, crews improve

By: Cara Latham
   FLORENCE — Two weeks ago firefighters battling a blaze at a Tollgate apartment were able to respond quickly to prevent the fire from spreading to other apartments, said Fire Chief Edward Kensler.
   Even though it was first thought three or four units would be lost, firefighters were able to knock down the fire, he said.
   "Our first truck went out fully staffed, as opposed to going out with one or two people," said Chief Kensler. "That’s the advantage to having one location," he said, adding that prior to July 1, maybe three trucks would have gotten out initially, but one truck might only have one person on it, and other might only have two.
   "We were able to do a lot more with a fully staffed truck," he said. "One engine fully staffed can do a lot more than three engines understaffed."
   This is just one example of how services have improved since the Fire Department, formerly at three locations in Florence and Roebling, merged into one central location in July and took over Emergency Medical Services.
   In October 2003, voters decided the Fire Department would merge into one central station off Cedar Lane.
   Then in December 2005, the township passed a resolution to merge the Fire and Medical departments under the authority of the Fire Department by July 1. The township paid for the cost of the merger and the ensuing operation for the first three years of joint services. The Board of Fire Commissioners passed a similar resolution in December 2005.
   The ribbon cutting for the $4.2 million Florence Township Fire Department building was attended by an estimated 200 people.
   Since the merger, firefighters and EMTs say the transition has been smooth and has made things a lot more efficient.
   Chief Kensler said since July 1, the call volume has spiked, bringing fire calls to over 400 a year, almost 100 more than average. The EMS call volume is also a lot more than what was anticipated, he said.
   But the takeover has allowed EMS services to be offered 24 hours seven days a week, as opposed to Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the department is able to maintain its goal of getting an ambulance to a person’s house within six minutes of the call.
   "We’ve been maintaining steady crews and a nice quick response out," said Chief Kensler. "All the EMTs have really come together to provide a nice service."
   EMS Capt. Felix Diaz said things have "improved dramatically," as the EMS squad no longer misses calls, and crews wear uniforms that give them a professional image.
   The merger "opened up resources for EMTs that are interested in helping the community," he said. "Everyone gets along pretty good. We’re looking forward to improving what we’ve worked so far to get."
   Chief Kensler said the goal of having the ambulance to the door within six minutes 85 percent of the time has affected him personally since the merger, as he heard a radio call that directed the ambulances to his parents’ address.
   "It was nice to hear that the ambulance was (to) their door within five minutes," he said. "It’s not just because it was my parents, but all the residents in Florence deserve that service."
   The biggest challenge that firefighters still face is the meshing of the personalities, said Chief Kensler.
   "We had three separate fire organizations and basically two separate EMS organizations trying to mesh together," he said. "With that, we have five different ways of doing things. We have everybody in the building now trying to formulate the new way of doing things, so that’s probably our greatest challenge right now."
   Still, things seem to be progressing, as meetings have been well attended with over 50 people on average, and the organization is completing its first full year of having one president and one vice president.
   And the fire services have been well received by residents, said Chief Kensler.
   "We sent out surveys for our EMS, and the surveys continue to come back very positive," he said. "Some of the reports that we get back have been very encouraging that we’re providing a good service, and that our people are professional."
   And since July 1, the EMS chief worked to get the ambulance squad licensed through the Department of Health, which means that the township can now bill for services.
   The central location also helps with keeping a sufficient number of the personnel on the firetrucks, said Chief Kensler.
   "All our resources are gathering here, as opposed to prior to July 1, when they were going to essentially five different stations," he said. "We’re able to utilize our manpower or personnel a lot better because they’re coming to a centralized location."
   While there are some people who are farther away from the firehouse than previously, it may take them longer to get to the fire station, but "one of the benefits is that when they get here, then we have more personnel to respond with," he added.
   There will be four additional personnel added to the roster come Jan. 4, when one firefighter and three EMTs graduate, said Chief Kensler. And what’s interesting is that three are women.
   "We have a high percentage of female firefighters in this department, which I’m very proud of because it goes against the stereotype," he said.
   Rose Estellow, who is one of those women graduating and whose husband also is a firefighter there, said she chose to be a firefighter because of the centralized building, and she is excited to begin her work.
   She responded to her first call two weeks ago, and even though the call wasn’t to battle a fire, "I was able to get on the truck and know that I’m able to help people, so that’s what I like about it."
   And she also said that becoming a firefighter has influenced one of her daughters to want to follow in her footsteps.
   The experience showed her daughter that "even though you’re a female, it doesn’t mean that you can’t become a firefighter."
   Stephanie Branin, an EMT with the department, is also happy that women personnel are treated equally.
   "They put you through the same rigorous activity as the men do, especially for training," she said. "They don’t discriminate towards females. It’s all equal."
   Another firefighter class will be starting in January, and Chief Kensler said fire officials are hoping to get two or three more people to join the class.
   Christopher Allen, a high school student who recently became a firefighter, said the atmosphere at the department has influenced him to choose to go to college to study fire science so he can make it a career.
   "I see how everybody is together," he said. "It boosts my confidence a lot, made me a better person."
   The new building also helps with training because if there is an emergency, the firefighters are still ready to respond.
   "We don’t have to go to Mount Holly and worry about coverage," he said.
   And Ms. Estellow said that the workout room and the weight room in the building has helped tremendously with training.
   When the merger project began four years ago, the Fire Department made a commitment to the taxpayers that the tax rate was going to be held for four years if they allowed the project to move forward, said Chief Kensler.
   "We were very happy that we were able to make that four years commitment," he said. "We’re going to try to do five, but unfortunately that doesn’t look like it’s going to be the case, but we still feel we’re in the process of making a very financially sound budget. We’re able to make smarter decisions (out of one location), I think."
   Chief Kensler said that while it has been a challenging six months, he thinks the Fire Department is on the road to having very good things happening.
   "Like any new thing, you need to work out some bugs, some communication issues, but I think the fire company, the district, the personnel are starting to see that we can do a lot more together than we ever could as separate organizations."