Keith Branche, a 41-year-old stay-at-home father, is a man on a mission. He wants to revive interest in one often overlooked pillar of the township — its volunteer fire department.
A native of Groton, Connecticut, Branche settled in West Windsor one year ago with his wife, Linda, and 2-year-old son Murphy. But before Branche ever came to central New Jersey he made sure to do his research and find his way of contributing to the community. He called the West Windsor Fire Company to make sure that there was a volunteer role for him to step into.
After 9/11 most of the nation came to recognize the unique bonds that firefighters share. Several memorials to “fallen brothers” who died at the World Trade Center were built in New York and New Jersey. Branche said firefighters quickly become part of an extended family and pillars of the town they serve.
“No matter where you go it’s a family atmosphere. You hang out together, your families hang out together; we have backyard picnics and barbecues. It ties you in with the community so it’s really enjoyable,” he says.
Letting the community know about participating in the West Windsor Fire Department is a new strategy for 2012 and beyond. Specific dates for community engagement have not been set as of yet, but Branche says open houses will be planned and fire trucks will participate in some community church events, fairs and festivals this summer.
“We’re going to really increase our presence and make sure people know that we’re all-volunteer,” Branche said.
Branche says the volunteer fire company bases itself in the concept of “neighbors helping neighbors” and regardless of an individual’s strengths or abilities, there are a variety of ways in which one can contribute to the operation of the fire department.
“We are serving the community very well but in order to continue to have service, you need to grow any organization, and that includes the fire department,” he said.
One problem that Branche has been concerned with in West Windsor is letting residents know that the fire department is all-volunteer. Only two people work at the department full-time, Monday to Friday, despite the fact that West Windsor Township continues to negotiate with the local firefighter’s union.
Branche says that after he moved into his new house (on Reed Drive in LeParc II) he began meeting with his neighbors. But none of them were aware that West Windsor’s fire department was volunteer-based. They all thought it was paid.
The fire department aims at attracting two to three new volunteers every year. While some residents may fret about the dangers of being a volunteer firefighter, Branche says that “anything you do has an inherent danger to it, and you need to be aware of that. On the same side of that coin that makes us emphasize training, and that’s what we do. You train to be able to predict and react to situations that can cause danger, or actually stay out of danger,” Branche says.
Branche sees two phenomena converging in today’s firefighter’s environment: extensive training combined with fewer fires happening in the nation due to awareness and preventative methods. This means that firefighters do generally encounter less live fire experience, but that is a positive.
In 2011 the West Windsor Fire Department put members through 1,000 hours of training, both in-house and at fire academies where full classes were held. The fire department pays for its volunteers’ training.
Time commitment has also traditionally been a deterrent for community members, especially because many people commute and work longer hours these days. But Branche points out that the volunteer fire company accepts any time that members are willing to dedicate. He explained that all the volunteers have careers and families as their priorities as well, and the department only has a few minimal requirements.
“We do require a volunteer firefighter to make it to eight drills in the year, and there are four or five required drills but they are spread out. But otherwise you make what you make — if you’re available on a Monday afternoon we hope that you show up for those fire calls on a Monday afternoon. But nobody’s going to say that a person only made it to 25 percent of the calls — we’re happy to have anybody who shows up,” Branche said.
The West Windsor department schedules two drills per month in-house aside from a few other drills that are required from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. One of the OSHA drills is a live burn drill held at a fire academy while another is a HAZMAT drill to promote awareness of chemical dangers and blood-borne pathogens. There’s also a mandatory CPR drill each year.
Branche says help is also needed in other roles. Some volunteers help the department only in its fundraising efforts and in hall rentals (which is part of the department’s income). Others can take active roles with the fire police, a situation that Branche says with educating the community. Different facets of the organization are readily available for anyone who volunteers.
“Generation to generation, people gauge their intent of helping. Particularly when people move away from actively fighting fires to helping with the apparatus and communications, and also supporting the department,” Branche said.
In addition Branche says that the department hopes to introduce two new junior fighters, usually high school students between 16 and 18 years old.
Participation can especially be rewarding for junior members as according to Branche the West Windsor Fire Department has produced at least a dozen professional firefighters around the country from its ranks.
Firefighting was built into Branche’s DNA. “I grew up with the fire service. When I was a kid my father was a chief, my uncle was a chief, and to this day my two older brothers are both volunteer firemen. Once it gets into your blood it stays there,” Branche said.
The oldest of the Branche brothers got back into volunteering for the fire department after several years, while the middle one retired from the Air Force and currently serves as a firefighter in East Hampton, Long Island. Branche’s mother is retired while his father owns a janitorial business and is a state fire marshal in Connecticut.
Branche studied culinary arts at Johnson and Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island and went on to Cornell University where he earned his bachelor’s degree in hotel management.
Branche worked as a restaurant cook before going on to Cornell for hospitality management. He says he spent 20 years in that industry, and three years ago he was the general manager of a country club in Tuxedo Park, New York.
In addition to Murphy, Branche also has a 17-year-old son, Nicholas, who lives in Philadelphia. This spring he’s taking Nicholas on college visits to upstate New York.
Linda Branche works for Tyco International on Roszel Road. One business unit of Tyco — Scott’s Health and Safety — makes the air tanks firefighters use to breathe, according to Branche.
Families dominate in West Windsor’s fire department as well. According to Branche the West Windsor department has four or five actual families with father-son duos, brothers, and husbands and wives involved. The department even has one father and son duo that will go through fire fighter training together this summer.
Branche has carried his family tradition of firefighting in each town he’s lived in the tri-state area. He is still a member of the volunteer fire company in Spring Lake, New Jersey where Branche and his wife own a summer home. Branche is also a social member of two other fire departments: Secaucus, New Jersey, and Woodbury, New York, near the Woodbury Commons outlet mall.
Branche lived in New York City for a few years but he was disappointed — he couldn’t be a firefighter because there are no volunteer fire companies there as all New York firemen are paid professionals.
Branche says volunteers are a special breed, but West Windsor is full of extraordinary people. “Anybody who gets out of bed at 3 a.m. to go help a stranger because they were in a car crash or their carbon monoxide alarm went off — it takes a special kind of person to do that. But I believe those people are out there,” he says.
