By Audrey Levine Staff Writer
Installation of a $70,000 emergency electrical generator at the Woods Road Firehouse will help make residents on that side of town a little more comfortable in the event of evacuation from their homes.
While the firehouse won’t be suitable for long-term stays, the generator will enable evacuated residents to stay warm and enjoy hot meals when disasters such as floods, power outages or fires make their homes uninhabitable.
Funding for the generator came from Hillsborough Volunteer Fire Company No. 3 and a contribution by Toll Brothers, a developer currently building in Hillsborough, according to Mark Brownlie, emergency management coordinator.
He said Toll Brothers gave $360,000 to the town to be used for emergency preparedness, which was divided between a command vehicle for the Office of Emergency Management ($300,000), and the remainder for the firehouse generator.
The remaining $10,000 needed to move forward with the purchase, Mr. Brownlie said, was donated by the Woods Road Fire Company. The Township Committee approved this donation in an ordinance July 22.
About a year ago, Mr. Brownlie said, he showed representatives from the American Red Cross the different fire companies in town to determine where an emergency generator would be most beneficial for housing residents during incidents that would not require shelter for excessively long periods of time. The Woods Road Firehouse was deemed the most appropriate.
”They decided the generator would be the best fit there,” he said. “It wouldn’t be for long-term sheltering, but for short term.”
If, for example, Woods Road Elementary School needed to be evacuated because of a loss of heat in a storm or any other incident, Mr. Brownlie said, students and teachers could be brought to the firehouse for several hours to be sheltered with electricity run by the generator.
”This generator (allows the firehouse to be used) for localized mini-incidents,” he said.
Previously, Mr. Brownlie said, the firehouse could only house residents for a very short periods because of a lack of heating and other electricity during power outages. He said he remembers being evacuated himself from Woods Road Elementary School when he was a student there, and only being able to stay at the Woods Road Firehouse for a limited amount of time.
”There are so many advantages now because it will be functional for electricity,” he said.
Now, Mr. Brownlie said, the firehouse will be designated as a temporary shelter and will house people for an unlimited amount of time, although it does not have sleeping quarters for multiple-day stays. If the emergency requires people to remain in a shelter for several days, he said, the OEM will look to move the people to other locations with accommodations for sleeping.
With the generator, Mr. Brownlie said, the firehouse will have a full-working kitchen, in addition to lights and heat. It does not, however, have showers or other similar accommodations, which he said is another reason it probably would not be used for extended or overnight stays if a long-term shelter was needed.
”But it can be open as long as possible,” he said. “If we need to bring people from the other side of Route 206, we can.”
Mr. Brownlie has said it helps that the firehouse is located on the opposite side of town from the municipal building, which serves as Hillsborough’s main emergency shelter.
Currently, the Neshanic Volunteer Fire Company is the only other firehouse with a generator. Fire Company No. 2 is wired for one, and Mr. Brownlie said the township will be looking into installing one there.
Hillsborough Volunteer Fire Company No. 1 will be the only firehouse without the generator.
”It is great to have a fire company with a generator,” Mr. Brownlie said.
