By Anne Levin

At a presentation made to Princeton Council during the April 8 meeting of the governing body, the Princeton Fire Department provided an update on efforts to enlarge the force and transition from all-volunteer to a combination of paid and volunteer firefighters.

Bob Gregory, the town’s director of emergency services, summarized the findings of a report by The Rodgers Group, which made some 19 recommendations. Among them were updating fire reporting software, which is already underway, Gregory said. The consultants’ additional recommendations include instituting a formalized mentoring process for new members, initiating a formalized exit process, engaging a recruiter, and establishing a youth academy program.

Speaking a week after the meeting, Gregory said the biggest issue for the department is crew size. “We pointed out that if you look at our roster, we have 81 members, but only 29 are qualified to go into a building, and about 15 of those 29 are regular responders,” he said. “Only seven of them live in Princeton, so the bulk come from the outside, which increases response time.”

The Rodgers Group report indicated that Princeton’s fire department is not meeting the national standard for response time. The fact that building materials used today are apt to catch fire more easily than traditional materials makes the need for a quick response even more pressing.

At the Council meeting, Municipal Administrator Marc Dashield said that $800,000 has been allocated in the budget to immediately hire six career firefighters and create a pool of per diem payments for volunteer firefighters. Gregory said plans also include getting volunteers to schedule shifts a month ahead, and possibly adding on an extra shift.

Working with the department on its future is a committee made up of fire officers, fire company presidents, Dashield, and Councilman Tim Quinn, who is fire commissioner. The group is scheduled to meet next week to formulate short-term and long-term plans. In collaboration with the Princeton Fire and Rescue Squad (PFARS), the department plans to do a major recruitment push for more volunteers. A joint mailing will go to 15,000 residents aged 25 to 50.

The decline in volunteerism is a national issue. Training of firefighters takes 12 to 18 months, Gregory said. Similar problems attracting volunteers in the 1970s and 1980s prompted the local department to hire 18-year-olds and women, and create a collaborative program with Princeton University.

Gregory said he hopes to come back before Council in 90 days with an updated plan. “We’d be better off with more members, for sure,” he said. “We’re hoping with this mailing to get inside some homes, and hopefully attract some more people.”