Since 1921, the members of the West Windsor Volunteer Fire Company No. 1 have taken things into their own hands — everything from risking their lives fighting fires at no cost to taxpayers to performing their own building maintenance and running birthday, engagement and Sweet 16 parties at their fire hall to raise money for their organization.##M:[more]##
As a “100 percent volunteer organization,” the members even built their own firehouse in 1950, and added onto it in 1969 and in 1974.
But as time has progressed, the members of the company have increasingly outgrown their current facility. The parquet floor in their banquet hall — which actually houses some of their equipment by day when it is not rented out for parties — is peeling. They have to constantly move the engines out of the hall and repeatedly clean the hall before the parties are held there. And members cannot take showers there.
“It’s gotten to the point where it’s literally impossible to deal with the firehouse in its current configuration,” says Larry Rubenstein, past president and current captain of the fire company.
Rubenstein made these comments to the West Windsor Planning Board during a hearing on November 5 for an addition to the existing firehouse. The Planning Board approved the addition plans for the firehouse, located on two lots totaling 4 acres on South Mill Road. The addition totals about 3,”458 square feet and an adds a 910 square foot basement. The existing building is a one-story brick and masonry block building firehouse containing 8,”550 square feet.
With the addition, the fire company received a variance for the side yard requirements as well as height and impervious coverage, and waivers from submitting a full environmental impact statement, a full wetlands survey, and a traffic signage plan.
Officials testified during the meeting that the fire company, is entirely self-supporting, aside from about $45,”000 in funding it splits with the Princeton Junction Fire Company annually from the township.
In order to raise money, the fire company actually uses its firehouse as a banquet hall, and it has to remove the equipment from the building itself before parties are held there. The company charges a rent, which assists in a very small way to support its efforts on behalf of the township. Three pieces of equipment are stored in the fire company’s engine bay, while five are housed in the banquet hall.
While the company has been in existence in the township since 1921, it was originally housed at the town hall in Dutch Neck, and the fire company’s current building was constructed in 1951.
The fire company responds to between 500 and 600 calls per year, including vehicle fires, vehicle rescue assignments, brush fires, and residential and commercial building fires, as well as water rescues. The company currently has 47 active members.
A township fire commissioner’s study conducted in 1997 concluded that the township should consider adding 7,”500 square feet to the building, and that the township should help raise $1.2 million to help cover the cost, recalled Rubenstein. But the fire company held off looking into the addition until now, a time when it is becoming almost impossible to deal with the small space.
Rubenstein said the fire company is not asking for any money from the township, and is only requested a 3,”500 square-foot addition to ease the burdens. “I can’t think of another firehouse in this county that does not have a shower,” Rubenstein said.
The waivers were granted after consultants for the fire company told the board that the addition would create hardly any increase in stormwater runoff, would not generate any new traffic, and that the site was not impacted by wetlands.
According to plans for the addition — which would take place in the rear of the building — the existing member rooms at the fire house would be turned into office and storage space. A handicapped bathroom, as well as more member rooms and a small locker room would be added. The existing radio room would also be expanded to allow for a larger, U-shaped desk. The back of the building would see a 17-foot expansion to house the larger fire trucks. The siren would also be moved 50 to 60 feet toward the back of the property.
Board and Township Council member Heidi Kleinman, who lives on South Mill Road, asked whether the design incorporated LEED standards, such as incorporating the use of natural light into the members’ rooms.
The company’s consultants said it was possible to add more windows or add sky lighting to the addition, but that it would be more expensive, and that fire officials wanted to try to keep costs down. She also asked whether the fire company could find a way to reduce the noise created by the sirens.
Rubenstein explained that the sirens are used as a back-up system in case members’ pager systems are down. They need to be able to hear if there is a call to which they need to respond, he said. And, “the only way you don’t have a siren, in most cases, is if you have a paid department.” This is because in a paid department, there are always a sufficient number of employees working at the firehouse at any given time.
Mike Buranelli and his wife, Julie, who have a one-year-old daughter, were concerned that the siren would be moved closer to their property, which backs up to the fire company’s, but officials determined it would actually be moving away from it.
He also said he was concerned about fumes that were emitted from an electrical generator on the property. “When the wind blows, it blows in the direction of my house,” he said. “It would be like having a Mack truck 50 yards from your house.”
Rubenstein said the fumes are emitted only when the generator is running during its weekly 15-minute test. Currently, the timer is set for every Saturday at noon. The test ensures that the generator is working so that, in case of a power outage, the fire company will still have power to its radio room.
Kleinman suggested the time be moved from Saturdays, since that is the time when most residents enjoy time together outside. Buranelli suggested Tuesdays at noon.
The board approved the application with, Kleinman abstaining.
After the meeting, Michael O’Cone, the co-chair of the fire company’s renovation committee, said the project was estimated to cost in the $300,”000 range, and that the fire company will continue to hold fundraisers. He construction is expected to begin in 2009.
To make a donation to the fire company for the addition project, send checks made out to West Windsor Volunteer Fire Company No. 1 to the West Windsor Fire Company Building Fund, 153 South Mill Road, West Windsor, 08550. For more information on the project, call 609-799-3311.
