MANCHESTER – Volunteer firefighters and township officials recently met to discuss their financial and equipment needs following accusations that misuse of police authority that inhibited fire service operations.
Mayor Robert Hudak said a meeting was held on October 26 with members of the township’s volunteer fire companies. The purpose of the meeting was to examine the fire company’s needs. Council President Craig Wallis and Councilman James Vaccaro asked to have a seat at that session during a council meeting earlier this month. During that session, Whiting Fire Company firefighter Tom Donner’s made a presentation before the council.
Donner, who was joined in the audience by several Whiting Fire Company members, read a statement addressing numerous safety concerns regarding his fire company. The statement was critical of former Mayor Kenneth Palmer and the former police chief.
He said those concerns were “not a result of the action of the fire company, on the contrary they are a direct result of lack of oversight, the past mayor’s inability to oversee Chief (Lisa) Parker, and Parker’s personal agenda. They have created a poison that is toxic to the volunteers in our community.”
Donner added that safety issues were presented to Chief Parker who retired in June as well as Mayor Palmer who resigned from office that same month to accept a position as a judge in the state.
Overstep Alleged
“We truly value our township Police Department and the services they provide,” Donner said. He added however, “there has been an overstep of influence within the fire service from superior leaders of the Police Department. Ultimately, there has been a lack of accountability for the command structure within emergency services. As a result, the town has been negligent to volunteer firefighters from a safety, financial, and tactical perspective. There has been wastefulness in some areas along with simultaneous disregard to our volunteers.”
Donner told The Manchester Times following the council meeting that the membership of the township volunteer fire companies really didn’t have the opportunity to provide input concerning the decision to form a paid fire company or to discuss how the plan would be implemented. He did say he heard there was a meeting with fire chiefs about the decision which left little time for them to seek further input from members.
Budget
Donner said that when the fire company asked for assistance from Chief Parker her response was “work more fundraisers.” He added that while “the township has made it clear, there is no money in the budget, somehow a vast amount of money keeps being provided to the paid fire service.”
He asked the governing body, “do you make the police officers pay for tires on their vehicles? Do you make the EMTs pay for oil changes on their rigs? Do you make public works employees pay for tune ups on their equipment? Do you make any of the above pay for training?”
He listed off several safety issues that included, “dispatch, it is a failure, though we do not blame the individual dispatchers. It’s the management of communications that has failed the community.”
Donner said dispatch protocols, notifying utility companies in a timely manner, getting correct information from callers to emergency personnel has been problem. He added that there have been cases where calls “are not being dispatched until a police officer is on scene. All of these items are doing two things, delaying the response time and putting our lives at greater risk.”
Safety Risks
His statement before the governing body noted, “the greatest risk comes at the safety of the volunteers and the community. Parker’s plan has made our community an island. She isolated our communication from surrounding communities, implemented a fire paging system that is a complete failure; paging systems from 40 years ago were more effective. This is a major safety issue.”
“Parker and Palmer bragged about how much support they have given the Whiting volunteer fire company. Manchester provides $30,000 to each volunteer fire company. That is the state minimum. For perspective Toms River fire district 2 has a budget of $4.6 million. That covers two companies and three firehouses. Remember only $30,000 comes from Manchester,” Donner said.
He stated that, “the administration has made it the burden of the fire company to pay for all expenses over the $30,000 which again is the state minimum. We paid $56,000 for vehicle maintenance and insurance in 2020, on township owned equipment. Turnout gear costs roughly $4,000 per set, along with fire hose, fire hose testing, pump testing, flashlights, and training to name just a few items. These are all expenses that the administration has refused to pay.”
Another issue he listed was “turnout gear is the primary protection for a firefighter. Each set of gear is custom made for the individual person. This is done to provide the highest level of protection, and allow the firefighter to have the best range of motion. Currently, we have members that are wearing gear that is outdated according to the National Fire Protection Association standard.”
Donner said some gear has failed due to heat damage. “We have been requesting new gear since January of this year. We have been told, quote ‘if it’s a safety issue we will take care of it.’ We were instructed to come to the firehouse to record our own measurements, which is not the correct way to establish turnout gear measurements. This was done with the notion that we would be getting new gear. That did not happen.”
“We have made multiple attempts to work with the town on getting an order placed, only to be let down with the reality of more misinformation. Ironically at the same time we were denied new gear, the paid department received all new gear. Remember there was no money. Tell us do you suggest we respond to emergencies with gear that is deemed unsafe?” he asked the governing body.
Another concern was the fire company’s paging system which he called, “absolutely horrible. Eight out of 10 calls are inaudible, garbled, or no transmission at all comes through. When we do receive a message, it is very basic or incorrect information. We have been given many excuses as to why the pagers do not work well, but there has been no remedy.”
He noted that the “Whiting fire department has a great working relationship with the Joint Base contrary to what you have been told. They are ready, willing, and able to respond with us. They are also the closest department for mutual aid response. Their response is also free to the community.”
Donner said while the township approved the current public safety organizational hierarchy, according to state regulations, “the town cannot run the daily operation of a volunteer fire department. The chief does.”
“We are not here because we disagree with the paid fire service. We are here because there is zero support, respect and basic understanding of the value of the volunteers. The lack of support, communication, and financial backing from the township has had a terrible effect on the volunteer core.”
Recruiting On Hold
Donner said these issues have put recruiting in a holding pattern “due to a lack of gear for new recruits, delays in the township application process, restrictions to only attend the county fire academy, while the paid department is able to attend the Toms River Fire Academy. We are an afterthought by all of you.”
“We are prepared to work with the township, but it must be a relationship of mutual respect, with an equal voice, and proper financial backing,” Donner’s statement concluded.
“We do work with and value our volunteers,” Police Chief Robert Dolan told The Manchester Times. He noted a joint training operation sponsored by Career Fire that members of the Whiting Fire Company and Manchester Fire Company took place on October 10. That training exercise was with the Toms River Fire Company.
Former Police Chief Responds
Parker responded to the comments Donner read, saying, “while reviewing the complaints, it was abundantly clear that they were intentionally misleading.” She noted that “capital expenditures recommended by me and approved by Mayor Palmer and the members of the Township Council, in the calendar year 2018 alone, with the purchase of a new pumper fire truck and equipment for the truck, the township invested approximately $792,000 in the Whiting Fire Department.”
She added, in prior years the township purchased Scott Bottles, turnout gear, Scott facepieces, and Scott air packs. “The Township made a significant investment in improving the interoperability of all three fire companies, and major advancements in the paging systems and created a direct line of communication with Township Dispatchers. There has never been an occasion when Mayor Palmer and/or the Township Council did not immediately provide safety equipment or the proper training. We conducted regular “Fire Chief’s Meetings” with the Fire Chiefs and their line officers to discuss any and all issues and determine what equipment was needed.”
Parker said “during the last six years the Mayor, Council, and I have worked with the fire chiefs spending a total of $3,517,407.19 in fire apparatus and equipment for our volunteers.
“There are some very qualified and experienced firefighters who volunteer for WFD and I’m uncertain why they have allowed a rookie malcontent to speak for them. His information is so factually wrong it can only be considered a fabrication. Just because someone speaks loudly and publicly, it most certainly does not mean what they say is accurate or truthful,” Parker said.
Joint Base Coverage
Parker said the resident “believes Manchester Township should have just given the money they invested in the career fire department to the volunteer fire departments to spend at their own discretion. In the preceding 18 months to implementing the paid service, Whiting Fire Department was having extreme difficulty covering their calls. Specifically, the Chief of Whiting Fire Department informed me that they must have mutual aid respond from the McGuire AFB Joint Base Career Fire Department for every fire call in Whiting because they were not able to ensure coverage during the weekdays while their active volunteers were working their regular jobs.”
“I respect that Fire Chief for having the courage to make sure his firefighters were safe and had the appropriate manpower on each call. He was also seriously concerned for our residents and ensuring they were getting the fire services that they could rely on especially during an emergency fire call. The Joint Base is not always available and the Base Commander makes a decision daily if the Joint Base will be responding to any mutual aid fire calls, this includes WFD,” Parker said.
WFD Donation
Parker added that recently, the WFD received a donation of $175,000 from Whiting First Aid Squad. “As opposed to putting that money towards firefighting apparatus or equipment, they chose to purchase two new trucks (SUV and Pick-up). One the fire chiefs drives around in and has access to 24/7 and the other vehicle is a utility vehicle. Neither vehicle has any fire suppression capabilities. Not necessarily in the best interests of the Township residents or their volunteer firefighters.”
“The total amount spent on fire from 2015 to 2019 is $3,517,407.19 which was calculated by OEM Director Art Abline who also serves as liaison to the Chief of Police. He handles all of the purchase orders for all of the expenditures for the fire departments including fire capital, which much of the apparatus and equipment were funded through,” Parker said.
The Manchester Times also reached out to the former mayor who due to his new position, said, “I can’t comment.”
An article concerning the details of the October 26 meeting with the mayor, members of council and volunteer fire company representatives will appear in a future edition of The Manchester Times.
