PRINCETON: Campus volunteers to aid fire departments

By Lauren Otis, Staff Writer
   Princeton is about to make a great leap forward in fire protection.
   No, fire codes haven’t been tightened and no expensive new equipment is involved.
   Instead, following official sanction by elected officials, Princeton’s all-volunteer fire-fighting force will soon be effectively doubled during the daytime with the inauguration of a new class of associate members of the Princeton Fire Department drawn from the ranks of Princeton University staff.
   ”I’m hoping that we’ll have them ready to ride within two months,” said Princeton Fire Chief Dan Tomalin. “We’ve had times where we have had to scramble around to get a crew so it’s going to be a huge help, particularly during the day when people are working,” Chief Tomalin said.
   The associate firefighter designation is the outgrowth of a simple idea: That out of the thousands of Princeton University employees who work on campus, there are certain to be some who are already trained as volunteer firefighters in their hometowns and might provide valuable help in Princeton during the hours they are in town.
   ”We realized that just within our facilities group we have 30 people who are volunteer firefighters in their hometowns,” said Roger Demareski, assistant vice president for facilities at Princeton, who has spearheaded the effort at the university and is himself a volunteer firefighter in Pennington.
   For some time the Princeton Fire Department has had a tough time attracting volunteers, Chief Tomalin said. “We’ve had a very hard time,” he said, especially during the daytime. The Fire Department’s volunteer force currently consists of about 30 to 35 volunteers, although “there is probably a core group of 24 guys” who are the most active, he said.
   The Princeton Fire Department has been in regular contact with the university about student volunteers, but about a year ago the notion that perhaps staff might be of help too arose, Chief Tomalin said.
   Mr. Demareski took the lead from the university end. Administration approval had to be obtained for employees to leave their desks during working hours, and insurance issues had to be clarified in the event they were injured while responding to a fire, he said. Once the university was on board, approval by Princeton Borough — which administers the three-house Fire Department serving both the borough and township — had to be obtained. At its March 24 meeting, Borough Council unanimously adopted amendments to its fire code authorizing the associate firefighters.
   Ironing out the logistics took some time but the university administration ultimately approved the idea, agreeing to grant the employee/volunteers paid leave for the hours they miss while responding to fires, said Mr. Demareski, a veteran volunteer firefighter who is in the initial group of approximately 20 university volunteers.
   Mr. Demareski, who has 19 years of firefighting experience, said that any member of the university community, even those without prior fire training or experience, can sign up to be an associate of the Princeton Fire Department, he said. The university is also exploring the possibility of hosting a firefighter training course on campus, which students and staff could participate in, he added.
   In addition to allowing their employees to volunteer, the university’s granting them paid leave to respond to fires “is a huge contribution on their part,” said Chief Tomalin. “They are not going to lose any pay by volunteering,” he said.
   Initially, a rotating group of three or four university associate firefighters will be on call to respond to fires during the day, Chief Tomalin said. If a major fire occurred, the university’s full group of 20 volunteers could be released, he said.
   Chief Tomalin emphasized that the university firefighters were strictly volunteer, and were not paid by Princeton at all for their services. Princeton simply needs to supply their firefighter gear, he said. After a formal application process, which includes a background check and physical, the new associate firefighters will be ready for service, he said.
   At a time when the town and the gown in Princeton have often disagreed on how far the university should go in shouldering its share of municipal obligations and expenses, the development at the Fire Department is an example of a joint, creative solution to one of the community’s most basic municipal needs — fire protection.
   ”This could be a model for other towns with universities,” Mr. Demareski said of the program.
   ”It’s great, it’s really a great relationship and it’s gotten stronger now,” said Chief Tomalin, of the Fire Department’s ties with the university.
   ”It is a good example of how, if you put your heads together, you can solve a problem” to the benefit of both the university and the town, Mr. Demareski said.