North Hudson Regional Fire and Rescue
Encyclopedia
North Hudson Regional Fire and Rescue (NHRFR) provides fire
protection and medical assistance to the North Hudson
communities of North Bergen
, Union City
, Weehawken
, West New York
, and Guttenburg, New Jersey
. The fire department serves a population of over 195,000 people.
Its members numbered 76 when it opened in 1999, but was 51 as of June 2010. According to North Hudson Regional Firefighters Association President Dominick Marino, this is enough to respond to one fire in North Hudson at a time, but asserted that numerous promotions that month, and the closing of Ladder 2 a week later would hurt response time. As of July 2010, the department's total compliment numbers 273, including firefighters, officers and staff, and its firehouses numbered 15.
In July 2010, NHRFR chaiperson and Weehawken Mayor Richard Turner
boasted that whereas the national standard is a five minute response time to fires, NHRFR's is slightly under two minutes.
The current Fire Chief is Brion McEldowney.
The North Hudson Regional Fire and Rescue (NHRFR) was established on January 11, 1999. The former fire departments of North Bergen
, Union City
, Weehawken
, West New York
, and Guttenburg were merged to provide a safer, more efficient fire department. The department is divided into three battalions, which comprise a fire apparatus fleet of six engines, four ladders, four squads, one rescue, and one fire boat, that operate out of 15 fire stations, located throughout the five communities. Three of these companies are only manned from 7:30a.m. to 7:30p.m. daily.
The agency created a new headquarters on Port Imperial Boulevard in West New York in 2007 to serve the waterfront area.
North Hudson Regional Fire and Rescue was among the many Hudson County agencies that responded to the January 2009 crash of Flight 1549, for which they received accolades from the survivors.
In July 2009, North Hudson Regional Fire and Rescue began closing their Rescue Company and the rotational closings of three engine companies. The following January, two buildings adjacent to Engine Company 9 burned down while the company was closed.
The organization opened a two-story firehouse in June 2010 at 4300 Kennedy Boulevard, purchased for $1.2 million, and renovated for $1.5 million, in part with a $500,000 federal grant. The building will house Engine Company 5, formerly housed in a building a block away that Union City Mayor Brian P. Stack described as "antiquated", as well as Rescue Company 1. Stack further stated that the Kennedy Boulevard location, which is actually located off Kennedy Boulevard, would give the firefighters easier access to the area, as Kennedy Boulevard is a four-lane road that runs through the entire county, whereas the previous location was situated in the middle of a block. The agency's dispatch center, which was formed 30 years previously, also moved to a new state-of-the-art facility at the new location, as the equipment at its former, less spacious location at 50th Street and Broadway was deemed outdated.
The agency rotated the closing of various firehouses for certain hours in order to save money until July 2010, when it closed two of its firehouses, according to NHRFR chairperson and Weehawken Mayor Richard Turner
, in order to allow the remaining 16 to stay open 24 hours, and save $500,000 in overtime costs from July 1 until the end of 2010. Turner further disclosed that the newly implemented Strategic Reorganization Plan, which took two years to create, would also save additional funds. Though Turner insisted that this would not affect performance, Dominick Marino, the head of the North Hudson Firefighters Association, reacted to the closings by stating that this would sacrifice response time from certain locations, and that with the closing of Ladder 2, the agency would not have enough firefighters. According to Marino, "Evidence shows that [a ladder and engine] responding at the same time eliminates the circumstances a lot quicker than having to wait." Marino further asserted that the closing of Engine 6 would mean that the entire west area of North Bergen would lose coverage, and that the promotion of 22 people to higher ranks in the last week of June, including 14 captains, five battalion chiefs and two deputies, meant that there was insufficient personnel to keep the houses open. Turner stated that hiring would be considered, based on upcoming retirements. Turner later stated the intention to hire new members in early 2011.
The agency's 2010 budget, which was passed on August 17, 2010, is $55.9 million, a 3% increase from the previous year's budget of $54.2 million, with the largest increase in health benefits, which are covered by Horizon Blue Cross. (The NHRFR was previously covered by Cigna
.) The August 17 meeting also saw the passing of a resolution allowing the agency to pay contractual terminal benefits, or retirement packages, to firefighters over the course of the five years following their retirement, instead of entirely within the year of their retirement. This resolution followed the passing a New Jersey state law (N.J.S.A.40A:4-53) that NHRFR officials indicated supersedes contractual obligations with unions.
Fire
Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material in the chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products. Slower oxidative processes like rusting or digestion are not included by this definition....
protection and medical assistance to the North Hudson
North Hudson, New Jersey
North Hudson is the collective name of the municipalities of Weehawken , Union City , West New York , Guttenberg and North Bergen in Hudson County, New Jersey...
communities of North Bergen
North Bergen, New Jersey
North Bergen is a township in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2010 Census, the township had a total population of 60,773. Originally founded in 1843, the town was much diminished in territory by a series of secessions. Situated on the Hudson Palisades, it is one...
, Union City
Union City, New Jersey
Union City is a city in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. According to the 2010 United States Census the city had a total population of 66,455. All of the city is on land, an area of...
, Weehawken
Weehawken, New Jersey
Weehawken is a township in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township population was 12,554.-Geography:Weehawken is part of the New York metropolitan area...
, West New York
West New York, New Jersey
West New York is a town in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States, situated upon the New Jersey Palisades. As of the 2010 United States Census, the town population was 49,708.-Geography:...
, and Guttenburg, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
. The fire department serves a population of over 195,000 people.
Its members numbered 76 when it opened in 1999, but was 51 as of June 2010. According to North Hudson Regional Firefighters Association President Dominick Marino, this is enough to respond to one fire in North Hudson at a time, but asserted that numerous promotions that month, and the closing of Ladder 2 a week later would hurt response time. As of July 2010, the department's total compliment numbers 273, including firefighters, officers and staff, and its firehouses numbered 15.
In July 2010, NHRFR chaiperson and Weehawken Mayor Richard Turner
Richard Turner
Richard Turner may refer to:* Richard Turner , English Protestant reformer and Marian exile* Richard Turner * Richard Turner , card technician and poker player...
boasted that whereas the national standard is a five minute response time to fires, NHRFR's is slightly under two minutes.
The current Fire Chief is Brion McEldowney.
History
Discussions to consolidate the North Hudson fire departments began in the early 1980s.The North Hudson Regional Fire and Rescue (NHRFR) was established on January 11, 1999. The former fire departments of North Bergen
North Bergen, New Jersey
North Bergen is a township in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2010 Census, the township had a total population of 60,773. Originally founded in 1843, the town was much diminished in territory by a series of secessions. Situated on the Hudson Palisades, it is one...
, Union City
Union City, New Jersey
Union City is a city in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. According to the 2010 United States Census the city had a total population of 66,455. All of the city is on land, an area of...
, Weehawken
Weehawken, New Jersey
Weehawken is a township in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township population was 12,554.-Geography:Weehawken is part of the New York metropolitan area...
, West New York
West New York, New Jersey
West New York is a town in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States, situated upon the New Jersey Palisades. As of the 2010 United States Census, the town population was 49,708.-Geography:...
, and Guttenburg were merged to provide a safer, more efficient fire department. The department is divided into three battalions, which comprise a fire apparatus fleet of six engines, four ladders, four squads, one rescue, and one fire boat, that operate out of 15 fire stations, located throughout the five communities. Three of these companies are only manned from 7:30a.m. to 7:30p.m. daily.
The agency created a new headquarters on Port Imperial Boulevard in West New York in 2007 to serve the waterfront area.
North Hudson Regional Fire and Rescue was among the many Hudson County agencies that responded to the January 2009 crash of Flight 1549, for which they received accolades from the survivors.
In July 2009, North Hudson Regional Fire and Rescue began closing their Rescue Company and the rotational closings of three engine companies. The following January, two buildings adjacent to Engine Company 9 burned down while the company was closed.
The organization opened a two-story firehouse in June 2010 at 4300 Kennedy Boulevard, purchased for $1.2 million, and renovated for $1.5 million, in part with a $500,000 federal grant. The building will house Engine Company 5, formerly housed in a building a block away that Union City Mayor Brian P. Stack described as "antiquated", as well as Rescue Company 1. Stack further stated that the Kennedy Boulevard location, which is actually located off Kennedy Boulevard, would give the firefighters easier access to the area, as Kennedy Boulevard is a four-lane road that runs through the entire county, whereas the previous location was situated in the middle of a block. The agency's dispatch center, which was formed 30 years previously, also moved to a new state-of-the-art facility at the new location, as the equipment at its former, less spacious location at 50th Street and Broadway was deemed outdated.
The agency rotated the closing of various firehouses for certain hours in order to save money until July 2010, when it closed two of its firehouses, according to NHRFR chairperson and Weehawken Mayor Richard Turner
Richard Turner
Richard Turner may refer to:* Richard Turner , English Protestant reformer and Marian exile* Richard Turner * Richard Turner , card technician and poker player...
, in order to allow the remaining 16 to stay open 24 hours, and save $500,000 in overtime costs from July 1 until the end of 2010. Turner further disclosed that the newly implemented Strategic Reorganization Plan, which took two years to create, would also save additional funds. Though Turner insisted that this would not affect performance, Dominick Marino, the head of the North Hudson Firefighters Association, reacted to the closings by stating that this would sacrifice response time from certain locations, and that with the closing of Ladder 2, the agency would not have enough firefighters. According to Marino, "Evidence shows that [a ladder and engine] responding at the same time eliminates the circumstances a lot quicker than having to wait." Marino further asserted that the closing of Engine 6 would mean that the entire west area of North Bergen would lose coverage, and that the promotion of 22 people to higher ranks in the last week of June, including 14 captains, five battalion chiefs and two deputies, meant that there was insufficient personnel to keep the houses open. Turner stated that hiring would be considered, based on upcoming retirements. Turner later stated the intention to hire new members in early 2011.
The agency's 2010 budget, which was passed on August 17, 2010, is $55.9 million, a 3% increase from the previous year's budget of $54.2 million, with the largest increase in health benefits, which are covered by Horizon Blue Cross. (The NHRFR was previously covered by Cigna
CIGNA
Cigna , headquartered in Bloomfield, Connecticut, is a global health services company, owing to its expanding international footprint and the fact that it provides administrative services only to approximately 80 percent of its clients...
.) The August 17 meeting also saw the passing of a resolution allowing the agency to pay contractual terminal benefits, or retirement packages, to firefighters over the course of the five years following their retirement, instead of entirely within the year of their retirement. This resolution followed the passing a New Jersey state law (N.J.S.A.40A:4-53) that NHRFR officials indicated supersedes contractual obligations with unions.
Active firehouses
- Rescue 1, 43rd Street and Kennedy Boulevard, on the Union CityUnion City, New JerseyUnion City is a city in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. According to the 2010 United States Census the city had a total population of 66,455. All of the city is on land, an area of...
-North Bergen border, opened in June 2010. Previously housed at 66th and Tonnelle - 66th Street and Jackson Street in GuttenbergGuttenberg, New JerseyGuttenberg , is a town in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2010 Census, the town population was 11,176. Only four blocks wide, Guttenberg is one of the smallest municipalities in New Jersey and the most densely populated incorporated place in the...
, used only for training as of July 2010. - Engine 4, 29th Street and Central Avenue in Union City, also home to Deputy 1. It was also the home to Ladder 2 until July 2010.
Closed firehouses
- Engine 5, 43rd Street and Bergenline Avenue in Union CityUnion City, New JerseyUnion City is a city in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. According to the 2010 United States Census the city had a total population of 66,455. All of the city is on land, an area of...
, closed in 2010, company moved to 43rd Street and Kennedy Boulevard firehouse. - Engine 6, 43rd Street and Tonnelle Avenue in North Bergen, closed in 2010, company moved to 43rd Street and Kennedy Boulevard firehouse.