I hope your February is off to a LOVEly start! This week I’m tackling another hot topic in public safety: emergency services. What should residents know about recent Haddonfield Fire Department happenings? Here are the facts:
THE AIR HORN
Since early 2020, several residents & business owners (some of whom are lifelong Haddonfield residents), presented me with this question: why do we still use the air horn to announce fire calls?
Translation: “Isn’t this technology outdated; and if so, why do we still use it? It’s a nuisance.” Residents expressed tremendous gratitude for our volunteer firefighters, while respectfully sharing their perspectives as parents, grandparents, healthcare heroes & business owners. The horn makes it difficult to put babies down for naps, interrupts the sleep of those working overnight shifts at area hospitals, and prevents others from working from home during a time when they have nowhere else to go. This led me to examine data & the history of the horn:
Firefighting Facts: Prior to the horn, a bell was used; and use of the horn during overnight hours ceased years ago because of technological advancements & its negative impact on sleeping neighbors.
Currently, there are 42 active members of Haddon Fire Co. No. 1 (HFC), and only 19 of those members live in Haddonfield.
Understanding the nostalgia felt by those who want to “hear the horn,” Chief Lou Frontino, Chief Jason Cutler and OEM Coordinator Linda Harrington opined on the importance of keeping the horn operational for natural disasters, as well as ceremonial events like the 9/11 Memorial. Chief Frontino offered HFC membership the opportunity to chime in, and I examined what other communities were doing.
Ultimately, Chief Frontino devised a plan we can all be proud of: a streamlined system that will significantly reduce the number of audible fire alarms within the Borough without compromising public safety.
HFC will continue to use the air horn for “Task Force” fire calls only. Task Force calls are reported fires that dispatch fields upon someone calling 911. This eliminates use of the horn for all other incidental & alarm system fire calls. To put this in perspective, a review of 2021 data included a total of 465 fire calls, of which only 68 were Task Force calls. Moreover, of those 68 Task Force calls, 22 were toned when the horn was already out of service (8:00pm – 8:00am), so only 46 calls would have been audible if this system was in place in 2021.
In short, we didn’t destroy or deactivate the air horn. You’ll just hear it infrequently now. Thanks to technological advancements, our first responders have not relied on the horn during overnight hours for years. This same technology is utilized during the day, so the horn will only be utilized in those instances where residents are at most risk of death or injury by fire, as a redundant means of calling firefighters to the firehouse.
THE VOLUNTEER SHORTAGE
Another issue is the ongoing, industry & region-wide crisis of volunteer firefighter shortages.
To this end, the Borough offered to collaborate with HFC leadership in 2021 on a multi-faceted & community-centered volunteer recruitment campaign. More recently, we requested the support of one of our Mutual Aid partners, Westmont Fire Co. No. 1, in responding to Haddonfield fire calls. These are small but important short-term solutions – with no additional costs to taxpayers – to the larger problem, which has been on the horizon for decades. I would be remiss if I didn’t thank Westmont Chief Dan Devitt and the Members of Westmont Fire Co. No. 1 for their willingness to support us.
What else are we doing? Because we also respond across borders, Haddonfield, Haddon Heights and Barrington teamed up to apply for the NJ Department of Community Affairs (DCA) Local Efficiency Achievement Program (LEAP) Challenge Grant. We applied for $75,000.00 to fund the STUDY of emergency service operations & develop viable solutions. Although awards were expected to be announced already, as of 2/10/22, we have not received an update. I am very grateful to Mayor Patti Harris and Mayor Zachary Houck for their continued commitment to collaboration on this issue. If we receive the grant award, funds will be utilized to hire a consulting firm to review data from all 3 municipalities for the purpose of thoroughly evaluating emergency services and planning for the future.
In the meantime, multiple proposals have been put forth by Chief Frontino and others for the creation of a stipend program. Given that these are short-term solutions to be funded by outside organizations, the Borough must determine their viability and long-term fiscal impacts before committing to any one concept.
As we work through this issue & related challenges, please remember: Haddon Fire Company No. 1 invites YOU to become an active volunteer! https://haddonfirecompany.org/
