Department seeks to use funds to build a new station on Johnson Road
Washington Township Fire District elections are on Feb. 16 from 2 to 9 p.m. at the fire district headquarters on East Holly Avenue.
In the balance of the election is a $10 million bond referendum that would allow the fire district to demolish the Whitman Square station on Johnson Road and build a new station in its place, in addition to repairing the other stations in town. Fire Commissioner Ed Etschman described one reason why the Whitman Square station needs to be rebuilt.
“That fire station was originally constructed around 1965,” Etschman said. “It’s too small for today’s fire apparatus (fire truck). You can’t open the doors once it’s inside.”
Fire Capt. Stephen Finn said, if the bond passes, construction will start around June and will take a year to complete. He said a temporary building like a pole barn will be constructed on the property to house the one engine so there would be fire protection for the Whitman Square part of town.
One of the amenities of the new building would be dedicated sleeping areas.
“The trend is to have an individual room,” Finn said. “It’s a small little room with a pocket door that slides.”
The sleeping areas would be a vast improvement from the current fire station, which has a conference room with a few bunk beds in it.
The current station has one bathroom and one shower. Finn said with both male and female firefighters, it can be less than ideal. The new station will have more bathrooms and showers.
Fire Chief Patrick Dolgos expanded on the issue of a proper cleaning area.
“We’re at nine times a greater risk to get cancer,” he said. “The new design has positive latching diesel exhaust systems which hook up to the apparatus and it goes outside the building rather than inside. In addition, they will have a positive pressure gear room where when they take off their contaminated gear it goes into a room that’s off-gassing into the environment and they’ll have adjacent showers.”
Dolgos said with the off-gassing, exhaust systems and showers, the firefighters can clean off the carcinogens more easily.
The Whitman Square department has outgrown its current station — literally. On the outside you can count five bays but the truck barely fits in one. Due to the set up of the station, the truck has to be backed in, which can be difficult and dangerous as there isn’t much room for error. With the new station, Finn said the bays will be drive through.
The station itself is in an ideal location, according to Dolgos.
“By modernizing a new facility on the property it provides adequate protection to the Whitman Square community,” he said. “It covers a large portion of our commercial and mercantile district we may respond to. In addition, we can hit almost every major artery from the Black Horse Pike out of this station: Fries Mill Road, Ganttown Road, Greentree Road and Woodbury-Turnersville Road, as well as 14.5 miles of the Atlantic City Expressway.”
In addition to building a new fire station, the fire district intends to update some of the other facilities, including the heating systems and restrooms at the headquarters, replacement of the roof and kitchen renovations at the Hurffville-Grenloch location and updates on exhaust systems at all fire stations.
Etschman said the bond is for 20 years and payments wouldn’t start until 2020.
“For a house valued at $200,000 it would cost $32 per year,” he said. “The other thing to consider, we have a bond that will be going off our debt service in 2021. At the end of the 2021 year, it will actually become revenue neutral.”
In addition to the bond, two fire commissioners are up for re-election, William Robertson and Robert Matteo.
For more information on the bond referendum or to speak about the proposed firehouse plans, contact Dolgos at (856) 863–4019.
