A new fire station at the current site of the Lawrence Road Fire Co. is “in,” and a new fire station at the corner of West Long Drive and Route 206 is “out.”
However, a new Lawrence Township Emergency Medical Services headquarters could be built at the corner of West Long Drive and Route 206. It would be more centrally located than its present site on Pilla Avenue, next to the Lawrence Road Fire Co. firehouse.
Those are among the recommendations made by the Center for Governmental Research. Paul Bishop, a principal at CGR, presented the report at a special meeting of the Lawrence Township Public Safety Committee on Oct. 1.
CGR, which was hired by Lawrence Township, focused on the future of public safety in Lawrence Township. The consultant analyzed the Lawrence Township Fire Department and Lawrence Township Emergency Medical Services. The fire department is a combination department that includes a mix of paid and volunteer firefighters. LTEMS emergency medical technicians are all paid.
CGR’s study of fire and EMS services is the fourth in less than 10 years. Prior studies were conducted in 2017, 2020 and 2023. The latest study was triggered by a suggestion in the 2023 study to build a new fire and EMS station at the corner of West Long Drive and Route 206 on the Lawrence Township municipal campus.
The proposal to build a new fire and EMS station at the corner of West Long Drive and Route 206 drew opposition from neighbors. West Long Drive is the entrance to the Long Acres neighborhood, whose residents claimed it would have a negative impact on their property values and quality of life.
While CGR’s study discussed the location of a new fire station, it also examined fire department and EMS staffing, now and in the future. The study pointed out that the township’s population has grown by 28% since 1990 and now stands at nearly 33,100 residents.
Also, there are nearly a dozen housing development projects that are in some stage of discussion or the approval process, mostly in the eastern quadrant and on a portion of the Educational Testing Service campus. The combined developments will lead to an increase in the township’s population of 15% to 20%.
The study also noted that the number of residents who are 60 and older has increased by 54% since 2000, from 3,894 to 6,004 residents. In 2025, senior citizens accounted for 2,141 of the 4,294 calls for service by LTEMS, or nearly half of all calls. Senior citizens are more likely to call for EMS than younger residents.
Turning to the issue of the Lawrence Township Fire Department, the study said the township is too sprawling for one fire station. There should be three fire stations, although two would be sufficient for now.
The fire stations that would provide the best coverage over the next few years are the Lawrence Road Fire Co. at 1252 Lawrence Road and the Lawrenceville Fire Co. at 64 Phillips Ave. The Slackwood Volunteer Fire Co. station on Slack Avenue is too close to the Lawrence Road Fire Co. and would be evaluated for alternative use or closure.
Given the age and condition of the Lawrence Road Fire Co. building, it would be more cost-effective to demolish it and build a new fire station, the study said. The property belongs to the Lawrence Road Fire Co., but township officials are in talks with the fire company about its possible acquisition by the township.
A new fire station would meet modern design standards. It would be able to accommodate around-the-clock staffing by paid firefighters, supplemented by volunteer firefighters. It would have sleeping areas for the paid firefighters and for volunteer firefighters who sign up for an overnight shift.
Eventually, a third fire station should be located in the eastern quadrant of the township to provide a quick response to the shopping malls and future developments, including the ETS site. The study recommended locating it in an area bounded by Princeton Pike, Province Line Road, Route 206 and Fackler Road.
The consultant’s report also examined staffing for the Lawrence Township Fire Department. Four paid firefighters are on duty 24 hours a day during the week. They work 24-hour shifts. Volunteer firefighters respond on weekends and are also available during the week to supplement the paid firefighters on calls.
The report said that if, over time, the volunteers cannot provide timely responses on weekends, more paid firefighters may need to be hired so the department is staffed around the clock, seven days a week. If so, adding four paid firefighters would bring the total to 17 from the current 13.
Nevertheless, the report recommended taking steps to continue integrating the paid and volunteer firefighters into a combination fire department. There are 49 volunteer firefighters on the active rolls.
The study recommended reducing the number of fire apparatus from four aerial fire trucks to two and from six engine/rescue trucks to four. Doing so would reduce the number of older fire trucks that require frequent maintenance while still retaining the necessary ladder and pumper trucks.
The CGR study also addressed LTEMS and its facility. Recommendations were made for staffing LTEMS, which relies entirely on paid EMTs. There are no volunteer EMTs.
LTEMS is staffed by 10 full-time paid EMTs and 30 per diem EMTs. It is staffed around the clock, seven days a week.
The EMTs work 12-hour shifts, during the day from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. and overnight from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. Because of the scheduling, an additional crew works from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. The result is that on half of the days, there are two crews, and on the other days, there is one crew. The study recommended hiring more EMTs to provide a second daytime crew on a consistent basis.
The report said LTEMS responds to an average of 12 calls per day. The calls generally peak around 8 a.m. and stay at that level until around 7 p.m., when the number of calls declines. But the demand for EMTs will continue to increase as the population grows, especially among older residents.
The study recommended either renovating the LTEMS station on Pilla Avenue, behind the Lawrence Road Fire Co., or building a new one to accommodate LTEMS’ growing needs. The “day room” in the current building is worn, and the apparatus bays are too small to fit all of the current ambulances. Only one of the bays can accommodate an ambulance based on a Ford F-350 chassis.
Mayor Christopher Bobbitt said after the meeting that the next step is for the Township Council to work with Acting Municipal Manager Christopher Longo to put together a plan of action while also considering what the township can actually afford. Longo also is the director of public safety.
