Whippany Fire Company Relocation Update

PRESS RELEASE:

“Serving Hanover for the next 100 years…”

After 12 difficult years of searching for a suitable home for the Whippany Fire Company, the company announces on August 12^th, 2010, that it has at last found a location and a solution that will work for the department and the community.

The Fire Dept. was founded in 1915 and didn’t get their first firehouse till 1923 – the same firehouse that is currently being used.  It has needed revisions about every 30 years, and we are at that 30-year point once again, though with more challenging problems than ever before.

It was through the hard work of our relocation committee that the need for a new fire station was determined. This committee looked at the challenges listed below; costs associated with repairs; lost man hours from preparing for flood activity; the number of close calls entering the highway and other facts.

• The building itself is almost 100 years old; in need of many repairs and not energy efficient.
• We are located in the middle of a flood zone and have to relocate operations during storms and evacuate the firehouse and all of our equipment and supplies to higher ground
• We are 15 ft. from a 4 lane highway with no room on the apron to pull out an engine without being in the roadway.
• The size of the facility itself is small, leaving little room for firefighters to suit up or for the positioning of fire vehicles. In addition, there’s not enough room to store all of the equipment with some remaining outside and exposed to the elements.
• Both firefighters and equipment are constantly exposed to harmful exhaust from the apparatus due to the close proximity
• We will also soon be surrounded by commercial development causing delays in response time, due to parking, and access issues. 
• There is no room for adequate training facilities within the current firehouse
• The current firehouse is not ADA compliant

The relocation committee has looked at other opportunities to relocate, but none have been either forthcoming or feasible, due to location or lack of construction revenue.  A consultant study that was done for us determined that the best location for the Whippany Firehouse was at the corner of Troy Hills Rd and Route 10.

With the building of Whippany Village, a realistic opportunity has opened up to us – to relocate our fire company in a new firehouse on Troy Hills Rd, across from the new CVS.  The new firehouse will provide adequate facilities to accommodate the fire company for the next 100 years.  It has been designed to take advantage of multiple green indicatives which will lower the operating costs.  It will be fully up to current codes and standards.  The total area will have approximately 21,200 square feet of habitable area. The plan includes: apparatus storage, department and commissioner offices, meeting/classroom area, 8″ thick concrete slabs with floor drains and grease interceptor, workshop, locker room facility, gear storage, and equipment storage.

The most desirable financial option that is being pursued by the committee would be to have a zero impact on our community and the committee is still aggressively moving forward with this internal financial goal. The Whippany Fire Company’s commitment to firefighting and other services to this community will not change.

As the project progresses, we will provide frequent updates on our website: www.whippanyfire.com.