Though West Windsor’s two volunteer fire companies are separate entities, they share a strong camaraderie and usually do things together, such as assisting at fire calls in each other’s jurisdictions and performing community service. On December 31, both companies’ chiefs retired together.
Dennis Huber, chief of Princeton Junction Volunteer Fire Company No. 1, Station 44, on Clarksville Road, has retired after serving as chief for 15 years. Richard Glover retired as chief of West Windsor Fire Company No. 1, Station 43, located on South Mill Road, after five years of service.
“Fifteen years [as chief] is enough time and enough stress,” says Huber. “But I am not leaving the fire company. I will be taking over the role of president.” The president is in charge of administration, day-to-day operations, the buildings, and paying bills. But, according to Huber, much less stressful. “When you are responsible for 40 firefighters and all of the equipment, you worry all the time.”
Now, Huber says, “I will no longer have to jump up and be present at every single fire, which I always did as chief. Four firefighters must be in the truck before it can respond to a call. That is the staffing minimum. A driver, an officer, and two actual fire fighters. I will still respond to fires, as a ‘black hat’ — a fire fighter — rather than as a ‘white hat’ — an officer. But I will probably be a driver most of the time, since I am certified as an officer. You never lose your certification.”
Huber has been involved with the Princeton Junction fire company since 1988. Prior to that he was a member of the Lawrence Township fire company for 17 years. “We lived in Lawrence, and my father was a fireman in Lawrence, so I decided to join there as well. I moved to West Windsor to live with my wife, Gay, and, a year later switched my allegiance and joined the PJ fire company,” he says.
Fire fighting runs in Huber’s family. His wife, Gay, who has lived in West Windsor her whole life and is the deputy clerk for the township, is also involved in the fire company along with their three daughters. Daughters Rana and Tara are fire fighters, and Dawn is an associate member who, along with Gay, runs the firefighter rehabilitation unit, which is responsible for bringing drinks, food, and other supplies to the firefighters during long calls.
In addition, Huber’s two brothers are fire fighters, and his two sisters are auxiliaries. Both are also married to fire fighters. Six of Huber’s nephews are firefighters. All except one live in Mercer County.
Says Huber: “That’s how a fire station usually ends up with new members — family members join as well.”
Right now, the Princeton Junction fire house has close to 30 fire fighters and 10 to 15 associate members. Another three will be going through training to become fire fighters. Unless they are transferring from other towns new members need approximately 140 hours of training to become a fire fighter level 1.
Career fire fighters — paid by the township — are first responders from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays; volunteers cover the rest of the time. But volunteers are always on call. During the day there is a shift crew that can respond from work if needed. And the volunteers are always on snow, hurricane, and inclement weather stand-by.
“A couple of our volunteers have moved onto career fire service, and that is very rewarding to see,” says Huber. “But I hated to see them go because they are excellent fire fighters. But even after people leave PJ, they come back, stay in touch. We are like a big family. You have to work together and have a lot of camaraderie to get the job done.”
Why didn’t the chief become a career fire fighter?
“At the time I first became a fire fighter, it was much harder to make it a career,” Huber says. “The only town in the area that had a career fire department was Trenton, and you had to live in Trenton to apply in Trenton. Nowadays many towns have a career fire department, so it is easier.”
According to Huber, 70 percent of all calls in West Windsor are false alarms. During the day career staff goes first so volunteers can go back to work if it turns out to be a false alarm.
“False alarms include batteries beeping in smoke detectors or alarms that go off when someone is cooking dinner or has taken a steamy shower. Car alarms and carbon monoxide alarms that beep due to low batteries are also triggers. Because many newer homes have their smoke detectors automatically connected to the police station, the calls come in automatically when the alarm goes off, even if it for one of the above reasons. If we get a signal, we must respond — it is the law.”
Adds Huber: “Most of our real calls involve car accidents on Route 1, both severe accidents and fender-benders, where we are called because someone smells smoke. We also have several calls for brush and mulch fires, and house fires, maybe one or two a year. On average, our station answers 500 to 600 calls per year.”
“So far we have never lost a fire fighter, thank goodness, although there have been injuries. It is not always easy sending fire fighters into a dangerous situation, but that’s what we are trained to do, so our training makes it easier.”
“In fact, for many chiefs, the worst part of the job can be the politics,” says Huber. “I handle that by trying to always be open with the membership and not hide things from them. If I have a meeting with the township, I will come back and tell the members what happened. Sometimes budget meetings can be tough because all of the township emergency services units — the township emergency service department, the police, Twin W, and the two fire stations — all want a piece of the same pie.”
“But because we work so well with the township and all of the volunteer squads, we don’t have any real problems here. We have a mutually beneficial relationship. For example, we help the police; they use our building for training. And the two fire companies work extremely well together. Chief Glover and I are good friends.”
“And our relationship with the town is excellent. In 2002, we worked out an agreement with the town for our new fire house. We gave the town $500,000 plus the old fire house [where the Arts Council is now located] and the town built our building, at a cost of approximately $2.5 million. We now lease the fire station from the town, and they continue to store emergency vehicles at the arts council and in our building as well.”
The Princeton Junction fire station and its fire fighters participate in the annual Santa appearances, help with National Night Out, appear at vehicle day at the library, and visit the farmers market. The volunteers participate in all of the township parades, do trainings and demonstrations during fire prevention week, and hold a Halloween trunk-or-treat. They also offer tours of the fire house, host cub scouts and girl scouts, and host children’s birthday parties.
When not volunteering as a fire fighter, Huber works as a lab manager for Radiation Data, which does radon testing and mitigation. He holds a two-year degree in electronics and began his career as an electronic quality control inspector for EMR-Schlumberger.
“I enjoyed being chief because I knew I was helping people, and I enjoyed training the younger volunteers,” says Huber. “But, although I expected to remain a fire fighter, I never expected to remain chief for so long. When my first five years were up, no one wanted to take over as chief, so I agreed to stay on. I began looking for a replacement, and when Anthony Mangone became deputy, he seemed like an ideal candidate. Last year he asked to remain for one more year as deputy, and I agreed. Now he’s ready. Everyone is pleased that he will be our new chief — especially me!”
