Excerpt from a "Better Holmdel" post:

 

Feb. 4, 2019 – At its meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 29th, the Township Committee announced that the release of the fire study is delayed again.  Unfortunately, on the very next day, a fire caused the total loss of a house at at 37 Blue Hills Drive (near the Village Elementary School).  On the afternoon of Thursday, Jan. 31st, the long waited fire study was finally posted on Holmdel’s website for public consumption.

 

The study (excluding the SOP that was not attached) is 57 pages long.  Here is the link to the study for those interested in reading the full text:

 

Link to Fires Study

 

Summary

 

At a high level, the fire study presented the following findings:

 

1. Holmdel currently has a rating grade of 6/6X, a fair to middling grade, from the Insurance Service Office (“ISO”).  This rating (used by insurance companies to set our home insurance rates and is not normally made available to the public) is a score from 1 to 10 with 1 as the best possible score and 10 meaning the fire department did not meet ISO’s minimum requirement.

 

In one particular part of the calculations of the rating, Holmdel earned a low 17 credits out of a possible 50 credits.  The consultant specifically cited that Holmdel can improve the rating with (1) more personnel, (2) improve training, and (3) improve apparatus fleet. (p. 4-2)

 

Note: the consultant indicated that the score is “not uncommon for volunteer fire departments”.

 

2. There is a need for a centralized fire station location.

 

The consultant stated that: “Anecdotally, it was reported to me that responses to calls for assistance in certain areas of the township can greatly exceed the recommended on scene and operating time of 12 minutes recommended by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Standard …”. (p. 4-4)

Citing a number of deficiencies, the consultant stated that the current fire station sites are not “equipped to be a main

fire station”.(p. 4-4)

 

3. The current all-volunteer fire department, with approximately 35 active volunteers and only a few members that actually live in Holmdel, is not sufficient.  The Consultant stated that “our review of personnel response by time of day indicated that, in a majority of instances, insufficient people were available to conduct a firefighting operation.” (p. 4-7)

The consultant went on to say that his research indicates that Holmdel is “not conducive to providing a force of volunteer firefighters from within the population”. (p. 8-2)  If recruiting volunteers is not successful, it would be “appropriate and proper” for the Township to consider the creation of a full-time career staff to assist the existing volunteer staff. (p. 8-1)

 

4. There is an absence of a proper set of Standard of Operating Procedures (“SOP”). (p. 2-6)

 

5. Interestingly, in light of current Holmdel affordable housing plan, and perhaps stating the obvious, the consultant stated: “Residential development will continue to increase.  This will cause the number of fire responses to increase as well.More people and more homes always equates to an increased demand for services.” (p. 6-3)

 

6. The consultant suggested replacing one fire truck (Aerial 18-90) as soon as possible, replacing another fire truck (Engine # 18-75) this year, and refurbishing a third fire truck (Engine 18-78) also in 2019.(p. 7-6)

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