Fire Safety Concerns Prompt Chatham Resident To Call For New Equipment

CHATHAM, NJ — A Chatham resident and former captain in the Bloomfield Fire Department is urging borough officials to consider funding a new fire engine for the Chatham Fire Department.

Bob Penn spoke in front of the Chatham Borough Council on Monday, Jan. 23, and requested that the funding for the neighborhood fire department be taken into consideration.

According to Penn, the apparatus fleet that the fire department currently utilizes is "badly overaged," which can pose a great threat not only to the firefighters but to members of the community.

"You know there is a problem. Unlike other administrations who denied that there is a problem, who said 'oh the apparatus is fine, it has been maintained.' That's nonsense because an apparatus that old, you can't measure metal fatigue, you can't go inside the engine and the number of safety features," Penn said.

The current fire apparatus is 34 years old, and receiving a new one, according to Penn, takes years to complete, which means that even if the borough ordered a new apparatus right now, it would take another four years to be delivered.

One of the current issues with the fire engine that can endanger the fire department is the lack of an electrical load manager, which means that if they are operating at a scene and use too much electricity for the engine to handle, the entire engine will shut down.

"So you could be in the middle of a rescue and ban all of a sudden that rig is just a big paperweight in the middle of the street," Penn said.

Another safety concern is the lack of a secondary braking system, which means that if the engine brakes were ever overheated and they were going down a steep road, the truck would not be able to break or slow down.

Penn mentioned how that could be a potential danger on Fairmount Avenue.

According to the National Fire Protection Association, a fire apparatus should be retired after 25 years of service due to potential safety concerns.

"My concern as somebody who spent 44 years in the fire service, is you have to have a fire department, just like you have to have a police department, there is no getting around it. Just the way you have to have police cars and have to have all the equipment that law enforcement needs. You have to have that for the fire department and it's been neglected," Penn said.