By Victoria Hurley-Schubert, Staff Writer
Fire services may eventually have to be delivered by a paid staff in the Princetons, according to a report from an outside consultant.
The report confirms the borough, township and university have a functioning fire department, but they are having difficulty finding volunteers because volunteers are moving farther from the station locations, said William Kramer of Kramer and Associates, fire consultants who issued the 175-page document.
”All of the communities surrounding have had to supplement their fire departments with on-duty personnel,” he said.
On-duty personnel are paid firefighters.
”We found no immediate need to put paid people in the station, but we found they should be planning for and anticipating the day when their volunteer department will need to be supplemented by an on-duty force, at least a skeletal crew, for response.”
An on-duty staff would cost about $720,000 for a skeleton staff. This would require hiring 12 paid firefighters at a rate of $60,000 per person to have a crew of three on duty around the clock. A full staff would have a multi-million dollar budget, similar to that of the police.
A full staff is not recommended because the fire department, a public agency, does only fire calls and no emergency medical services or rescue services. Emergency medical and rescues is handled by Princeton First Aid and Rescue, which is private.
”There is strong sentiment in the department not to merge those services,” said Mr. Kramer. “I suspect the sentiment is just as strong, and I did interview the chief of the rescue squad, and the sentiment is the same because they are so different.”
The data has been complied since January. The study cost $21,600 and was paid for from the municipal budgets. The last time a study like this was done was in the late 1980s.
”With the challenges of recruiting and retaining volunteers over the last several years, with the cost of modern fire apparatus, with increasing state and federal requirements for firefighters and fire departments, it seemed that taking a look at the all the aspects of the fire department again make sense to help us plan for the future,” said Mark Freda, director of emergency services, who oversees the fire department.
A former professional firefighter, Mr. Kramer has been consulting since 1983 and he holds a doctorate in organizational management.
One paid department solution could be a combination of the Princeton Fire Safety and Housing Agency and the fire department because both organizations have trained firefighting personnel, he said.
”Both the township and borough have hired people who are trained firefighters for their inspections,” said Mr. Kramer. Those people could be utilized as firefighters when not doing inspections in a paid fire force.
”Overall, I think Mr. Kramer has provided a number of recommendations that will help the Princeton Fire Department move forward over the next several years,” said Mr. Freda. “Over the next several weeks the fire department will review and discuss the recommendations in detail. At the end of that process they will most likely create a list of recommendations they agree with and a list of what they do not agree with.”
The governing bodies will hold a discussion of the report in the near future, said Mr. Freda.
”I don’t know that I agree with every recommendation; but I do know that I will give every recommendation serious consideration. But getting to the point to say yes or no to each one is not here yet,” said Mr. Freda. “We need input from the members of the fire department first; and we need input from the governing bodies as to what they believe we can fund, what is the tax impact is of implementing some of the recommendations and what is the tax impact of not implementing some of the recommendations.”
”Princeton is receiving tremendous value in its volunteer fire service,” said Mr. Kramer. “The philosophy in Princeton should be we will remain a volunteer department, supplemented perhaps by some on-duty personnel. Preferably, from their own members on duty drawing per diem wages.”
This would be superior to a paid department supplemented with volunteers because if Princeton went to a paid department, there tends to be a dichotomy between the new paid people who are viewed as mercenaries by the volunteers who have provided the service for free and drives away volunteers, Mr. Kramer added.
The fire department can improve volunteer recruitment, retention and incentives to stave off the need for on-duty personnel, Mr. Kramer said.
”The report also has improvements for strengthening the department and illustrates the direction they need to be prepared to go as they introduce the first on-duty personnel,” he said.
”Of course, a very important consideration revolves around what will strengthen our volunteer system. I think that is our starting point,” said Mr. Freda.
The report suggests a second look in three years, Mr. Kramer said.
”My report states they are right on the edge of having to use their first on-duty personnel, just as all the surrounding communities do,” he said.
”I feel we need to thoroughly think out each recommendation, what are the short term and long term impacts. We need to look at what is the best fit for our community and for our volunteers; what can we afford,” said Mr. Freda. “There will be a lot of balancing of conflicting needs and goals. But I am confident that we will make good choices regarding the future of our fire department.”

