Township officials will present the results and recommendations of a consultant’s study on fire and emergency services at a special meeting of the Public Safety Committee on Oct. 1.
The 6:30 p.m. meeting will be held in the Township Council meeting room. It will focus on the findings and recommendations made by the Center for Governmental Research. The consultant was hired by the township earlier this year.
One of the key recommendations is to build a new fire station at the site of the Lawrence Road Fire Co. at 1252 Lawrence Road – not on township-owned land at the corner of Route 206 and West Long Drive. A previous study recommended building it on that property, which is part of the Lawrence Township Municipal Complex.
Paul Bishop, who is a principal in CGR, will outline the study’s findings and recommendations at the meeting. Public participation will follow the presentation.
The study determined that Lawrence Township is too sprawling to be covered by one fire station, so it has recommended retaining the Lawrence Road Fire Co. station on Lawrence Road and the Lawrenceville Fire Co. station at 64 Phillips Avenue – but not the Slackwood Volunteer Fire Co. fire station. The Slack Avenue firehouse would be evaluated for alternative uses or closure.
The study recommends monitoring volunteer performance and to increase the number of paid firefighters as necessary. The career or paid firefighters work around the clock on weekdays. The volunteer firefighters take over on weekends, from 6 a.m. Saturday through 6 a.m. Monday. They continue to respond seven days a week, around the clock to assist the career firefighters.
It also suggested that efforts should be made to continue working toward fully integrating the volunteer and career firefighters into a combination fire department. A combination fire department is made up of both volunteer and career firefighters, while a fully paid fire department is staffed exclusively by career firefighters.
The study also found that the demand for fire and EMS services is rising, and that EMS staffing is low on the day shifts. On average, the fire department responds to four calls daily and EMS responds to 12 calls daily.
Finally, the study determined that the number of fire trucks exceeds what is needed for current and future staffing. It recommended “right-sizing” the fleet of fire trucks.
This is not the first time that the township has studied the issue of fire and emergency services. Studies were commissioned by the township in 2017 and 2023. The CGR study, which is the third one in less than 10 years, was triggered by a suggestion in the 2023 study to build a new fire and EMS station on township-owned land on the corner of Route 206 and West Long Drive.
West Long Drive is the entrance to the Long Acres neighborhood. Residents objected to locating a new fire and EMS station at that site. They cited the potential impact on their property values and quality of life.
