The Moorestown Township Fire District is opening up its volunteerism ranks to non-Moorestown residents for the first time in the fire departments history.
The fire district’s volunteerism department recently decided to lift the residency requirements for volunteers for the Moorestown Fire District №1, opening up the department to firefighters who are looking to join its ranks. New volunteers must be within five-miles of either of the district’s fire stations and must be certified by the state as “Firefighters One” prior to joining.
The 100 percent volunteer department currently has 50 to 55 volunteer firefighters on staff. The volunteers are split between the two district fire stations and respond to calls coming out each zones, Fire District Administrator Chris Chesner said.
However, the district only has about 25 “interior firefighters,” he said, which means that only 25 firefighters can actually go into a burning building or structure when on the scene of a fire, he said.
It’s a big time commitment, Chesner said, and with many volunteers also holding down one or more jobs and with family duties as well, it can be very tough to find time as a volunteer.
“It’s tough during the day for our district’s daytime response. We need more members during the day, more members 24 hours a day, seven days a week actually,” Chesner said. “Night time is a little easier, after people get back from work they can jump on calls. But now a day with other commitments and dual jobs, it’s quite an obligation for our volunteers. We’re trying our best to bolster our ranks.”
The district is focusing on “retention and recruitment” for its volunteers, Chesner said, and this new program will be reevaluated after being in place for six months.
It went into effect in late June, he said, and the department actually has already signed up one new volunteer that doesn’t live in Moorestown, but is within the five-mile radius.
“We’d love for people to knock on our door, ask us questions, and get to know us. It’s a lot of fun, it’s demanding, there’s no doubt about that. We’re up front with them about that,” Chesner said. “The initial training is 140 hours, it’s a big time commitment that they have to go up to the fire academy. Every Thursday evening you have drills for two to four hours, and then 700 fire calls a year.”
Want more information? Check out the fire district’s website at www.moorestownfire.org or call the district at (856) 234–4193 and ask for Chesner.
