Borough of Cresskill
Fire Department
Emergency: Dial 911Non-Emergency: 568-1400
Madison Avenue
Cresskill, New Jersey 07626
They’re a proud bunch, the firefighters, and rightly so. Proud of their volunteerism, proud of their knowledge, proud of their ability, proud of being, for a hundred years, of such importance to Cresskill.
Forty-five men( to date there have been no women firefighters on the Cresskill Volunteer Fire Department),18 years and up with no upper limit to age, comprise the department. Their lives are on the line each time they answer a fire call, more so today than ever before. Because there is more possibility of accelerants and of hazardous materials in a burning home or business, the men are in danger not only from fire and smoke but from exposure to toxins.
The time they give, every moment voluntary, is far beyond what the public actually sees when the firefighters respond to fire signals or perhaps when the men trot out the fire trucks for driver training on a Sunday morning.
Behind the fire calls lie hours of work. After completing a 135-hour training course and 24-hour hazardous material training course, the firefighter is placed on a year’s probation. During that time he learns the procedures of the fire department. They participate in fire drills twice a month; assist in the maintenance of the equipment and cleanup of the apparatus room; and attend monthly meetings. No wonder they’re a close-knit group , these brave and largely unsung volunteers.
That’s the training for a basic firefighter. For the person who aspires to be a driver, and this is not a matter of just sitting behind the wheel of the huge rig,there is an additional training course that lasts 40 hours. After that, the driver is able to operate the rescue/ladder truck.
To become an officer, the firefighter must pass the driver’s course plus an additional 30 hours of training. To go further still, to become an assistant chief, the volunteer firefighter must take yet another 45-hour course and other courses as well. By the time a firefighter becomes a chief he has received 500 to 600 hours of training.
The Borough owns all the equipment, trucks, firefighting gear, that is used for fighting fires. The Association owns the firehouse, which was built in 1955 at its present location on Madison Avenue. The firefighters give more than their time. They pay dues to their Association, which pays for utilities and maintenance of the firehouse. They are always aware that jumping into fire gear when they are called out while wearing a good suit or good watch will almost surely ruin those items, with smoke and water damage. They get a $400 clothing allowance, but that doesn’t always cover the losses. It’s evident they don’t worry about their personal items, they are there to fight fires. Though recruiting new volunteers is an ongoing problem, those people who are firefighters are committed to their cause.
The dedicated ones drop in to the firehouse even when they’re not on duty. They do odd jobs around the firehouse, they talk, they reinforce their commitment to each other. But, when their beeper sounds, when the fire siren blares, it hits them with a sense of urgency to get there, to help, a feeling beyond what most of us have experienced. It hits them in the gut; it’s in their blood. Next to their families, it’s their life.