The Slackwood Volunteer Fire Company and the Lawrence Road Fire Company firehouses would be combined into a new fire station, based on a recently released study by Cotter Strategies LLC.
The proposed new fire station would be located on township-owned land on the corner of Route 206/Lawrenceville Road and West Long Drive. The Lawrenceville Fire Company fire house would be kept as a substation.
Cotter Strategies LLC also recommended relocating the Lawrence Township Emergency Medical Services to the new building from its headquarters next to the Lawrence Road Fire Company.
The new fire station would become part of the Lawrence Township Municipal Complex, which includes the municipal building, the Lawrence Township Police Department and the Lawrence Township Municipal Court.
The study also suggested moving the Office of Emergency Management, the Emergency Operations Center, the 9-1-1 communications center and the administrative offices of the Department of Public Works into the new fire station.
Cotter Strategies LLC completed the study, which was initially marked “Confidential,” in November 2023. The study was declassified last month by the Lawrence Township Council after repeated requests for its release by residents.
The proposal for a new fire station on the corner of Route 206 and West Long Drive has drawn fierce opposition from residents in the Long Acres neighborhood. The entrance to the Long Acres neighborhood is on West Long Drive.
Residents said they are concerned about its impact on their property values and their quality of life. Some have questioned the consultant’s credentials and the process by which it was chosen. They have called for more transparency.
In response, a special subcommittee of the township’s Public Safety Coordinating Committee has been formed to review the report and make recommendations to the Township Council. The subcommittee expects to make its recommendations within a few months.
The Cotter Strategies LLC study outlined several reasons for building a new fire station, pointing to improved facilities for the health and safety of the firefighters and also the integration of fire and EMS operations.
A new fire station would serve several purposes. It would be designed to limit the spread of contaminants and potential carcinogens picked up at a fire scene and carried back to the fire station on firefighters’ jackets, pants and boots, the study said.
It would also be designed to provide accommodations for female firefighters. As more women join fire departments, it has influenced the design of locker rooms, sleeping areas and bathroom facilities.
Also, as Lawrence Township moves to hire additional career firefighters over time, a new fire station would help to integrate the volunteer and career firefighters into a combination fire department, the study said. There are nine career firefighters who are on duty during the weekdays.
The Cotter Strategies LLC study grew out of an earlier study by the Rodgers Group in 2020, which had been commissioned by the Township Council in 2017. The consultant was hired to provide a detailed assessment of the township’s firefighting program, Municipal Manager Kevin Nerwinski said.
One of the Rodgers Group’s recommendations was to combine the volunteer and career firefighters into a combination fire department because the number of volunteer firefighters is dwindling.
The Rodgers Group study also recommended undertaking an in-depth study to determine the feasibility of building a new fire station in a central location. It would be designed to accommodate the fire department EMS and emergency management functions.
Township officials received a $725,000 state grant for the research and development of a new centralized facility for fire and EMS operations to be built at 1252 Lawrence Road, which is the site of the Lawrence Road Fire Company.
Nerwinski said when township officials learned that the property belonged to the Lawrence Road Fire Company – not to Lawrence Township, the location then shifted to the Lawrence Township Municipal Complex and the property on the corner of Route 206 and West Long Drive.
An analysis of the response time – how long it would take for a fire truck to reach the scene of a fire or other emergency – showed that most of the developed areas of the township could be reached in less than five minutes from a fire station on Route 206 at West Long Drive.
