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ORGANIZATION | CHIEF'S
MESSAGE New residents to Fair Haven are often surprised to learn that the Fair Haven Fire Department is entirely volunteer. In fact, the Fire Department is a part of an all-volunteer Fire Company, comprising five very important, but different organizations. To learn more about how the Fire Company is organized and the history of the various units in the Company, please click on the ORGANIZATION link above. As in the case of the members, the Fire Company Officers are also volunteers. Each year a new slate of officers is elected. To get acquainted with this year's Fire Chief, please click on the CHIEF'S MESSAGE link above. You may also be interested in our "adoption" of a New York City firehouse following the 9/11 disaster. Click on FDNY ADOPTION to learn about our help to FDNY Engine Company 54, Ladder Company 4 and Battalion 9. Our website contains lots of news and information. We hope you have the time to explore it all. If you are anxious to get right to the item of interest, however, click on FAQ, NEWS, LINKS and ARCHIVES and MEMORIALS above to get there in a hurry. FHFD Overall Winner of 2010 Field Day Competition Colts Neck, NJ - Fair Haven Fire Department competed in the Monmouth
County Firefighter's Competition Association's 2010 Field Day events. (see the video for FHFD's first run of the Hose & Ladder competition) Monmouth
County to dispatch Fair Haven
Police FAIR HAVEN — A plan for joint dispatching of police and emergency services between the borough and neighboring Little Silver was shelved after three deadlines to begin operation were missed due to technical issues. Fair Haven rescinded a contract for joint police dispatching with neighboring Little Silver Monday night. The council hired the Monmouth County Sheriff's Communication Center for $55,000, which lost a bid to provide the service in March, to get it running by Oct. 1. Fair Haven Mayor Michael Halfacre cited technical problems with the microwave point-to-point dispatching system as the reason for switching to Monmouth County, which uses more traditional T-1 data lines and radio communication. "It's a microwave issue. It doesn't work as promised," Halfacre said. "The technology can't overcome the topography. The solution would be to build significantly higher radio towers in both locations." Officials said that solution would be costly and likely to run into local opposition. "This doesn't have anything to do with Little Silver . . . technologically it didn't work," said Fair Haven Councilman Chris Rinn. "The deadlines of July 1, August 1 and September 1 came and went and the council had to make a decision." Officials spent two weeks putting together an alternate plan with the county, Halfacre said. Point-to-point microwave systems need towers that are above trees and other obstructions, said Michael Kerwin, sales manager for Quality Communication of Lakewood, contractor on the project. The company spent over 100 man hours troubleshooting the system and working on options, he said. "The initial survey said it would work, but the tree lines were higher than anticipated. We tried to use other towers and even looked at raising towers, (but) it didn't meet with the original expectation," Kerwin said. "We did everything possible." During that time, Halfacre said Fair Haven incurred costs for police overtime and to hire temporary dispatchers, a cost officials want reimbursed. A state Shared Services grant for about $36,000 to cover start-up costs will need to be amended to reflect contracting with Monmouth County for dispatching, said Council President Jon Peters. "We hope they'll allow us to amend it, it seems reasonable," he said "Everyone's worked in good faith, we felt the best alternative was to go to the county." Little Silver made a second dispatching proposal, which Fair Haven rejected, said Police Chief Shannon Giblin. He said the mayor and council will decide if Little Silver seeks joint dispatching with other towns. "We're sorry it didn't work out," Giblin said. Little Silver didn't purchase equipment for the joint dispatching, except for software that police needed to upgrade record keeping, said Michael Biehl, borough administrator. Kerwin said Fair Haven will "absolutely" get its money back. "It was a rarity, but when it happens, it happens strongly," Kerwin said, who has been in the business for 28 years. "Some people will criticize us. We took it on the chin, we held people internally accountable for their actions. It's unfortunate it happened the way it did." Fair
Haven outsources dispatching FAIR HAVEN — The Borough Council voted unanimously Monday night to outsource police and emergency services dispatching, approving a three-year contract with neighboring Little Silver after about a month and half of debate on the issue. The six-member council voted for a contract in which Fair Haven will pay about $42,000 annually for Little Silver dispatchers to handle police, fire and first aid calls now answered by the borough's own dispatchers. The switch will happen July 1. Council members said the issue came down to trying to save money for taxpayers in one of the few areas of the budget where they control the costs. "I see a lot of long faces on first responders here. We don't take this lightly. We relied on the experts," said Councilman Benjamin Lucarelli, referring to Fair Haven and Little Silver police chiefs, who were asked to research the change. In January, the council investigated outsourcing dispatching to the Monmouth County Sheriff's Communication Center. On Feb. 23, Little Silver officials made a proposal, which Fair Haven officials had requested. At that meeting, the council voted to have the borough attorney draft a contract with Little Silver. "This is a very good solution to what we're looking to do: provide localized service at a fair price to taxpayers," said Mayor Michael Halfacre. "I thank Little Silver for that." Several council members said while they preferred no change, contracting with a neighboring town was preferable. Firefighters met with Little Silver officials about operational issues, but they still had questions, such as how response times to calls would be affected, said Jim Cerruti, deputy fire chief. "We don't want to see the residents of Fair Haven see a decline in the level of service or response times," Cerruti said after the meeting. "There are always concerns on making a major change from what you have." Fair
Haven Fire Truck Fair Haven - On Monday night, Deputy Fire Chief Shawn Foley and Assistant Deputy Jim Cerruti presented the Borough of Fair Haven with a brand new, custom-made fire truck that will be the first responder on all fire calls in Fair Haven. The custom-built truck is the first new fire engine in Fair Haven in 27 years. It will be replacing Fair Haven's 1954 engine and as a dedication to the "retired" engine, the image of the 1954 engine is painted onto both sides of the new truck's cab. "A lot of work went into this truck with a lot of man hours," Cerruti said. "What you've got here is a state-of-the-art truck that is made for this town." The process of acquiring the new fire engine began three years ago with the creation of a committee to put together a fire truck that would best serve Fair Haven. According to Cerruti the committee has spent countless hours over the last three years deciding on what equipment was necessary for the truck and finding ways to tweak the new engine in order for it to be fully customized to serve the Borough of Fair Haven. "We are very proud of this truck and all of our equipment," Cerruti said. "If you take a look at anything we have we work very hard to maintain it." Cerruti said that the Fire Department will continue to add equipment to the truck as it sees fit, often spending money from the department's own funds. "It has to be a custom truck because as a volunteer squad you don't know who you're going to get at two o'clock in the morning or two o'clock in the afternoon." The new truck is considered to be a 'quad' because it provides firefighters with ladders, hoses, pumps, and water tanks. "It's a huge addition," Committeeman Christopher Rinn said. "It bolsters our response capabilities and bolsters the abilities of our Fire Department to do their job. It gives them a really significant set of tools to do their job." According to Cerruti, the committee formed to acquire the new truck asked for $600,000 in order to build one that best suited Fair Haven. The total cost came in under that number at $586,000. "It gives the members of a very capable volunteer Fire Company the ability to fight just about any fire there is here in Fair Haven, and they do it, and they do it well," Rinn said.
New Fire Truck Purchase
Approved
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